Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Stories

This is the first "Project Censored" book I have ever bought and it's jaw-dropping. The once great esteemed American media/press has been degraded to jibber-jabber. Entertainment has become critical "news". There is hardly anymore investigative reporting, just many reporters offering opinions (aka "pundits"), and everything is just "spin", depending on what side of the political spectrum your views happen to land on. This is the crux of "Project Censored 2005". This book offers the top 25 underreported stories of 2004, that would vastly improve an average American's understanding of the world if they were reported properly. Many of these stories are backed up by numerous references galore so anyone can follow up on these stories. The scariest parts of the book deal with corporate consolidation (monopoly) of media and Junk News/ News Abuse. When you read these sections, you will begin to wonder if America really has "free press". Example: In June 5, 2005's edition of NYC's Daily News, the one year wedding anniversary of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony made page 2 headlines, while the murder of a 9 year old girl was pushed to page 4. Also,the devastating tsunami that struck south Asia was quickly pushed aside for the earth-shattering divorce of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. CNN, FOX and countless other major news channels covered this extensively. Instead of focusing on the genocide of Sudan, Paris Hilton's engagement ring made front page news. The War on Terror? Bah!!!! American Idol gets more coverage. Depleted Uranium used in the military getting much press? No way!!! Instead, the media would have you believe that Angelina Jolie's and Brad Pitt's getaway to Kenya is waaaaay more newsworthy (what's with all this Brad Pitt attention anyway? He's okay looking and all, but give us a break already!). Essence magazine was just purchased by Time Warner. When you read which corporations own which media (from books to music, to magazines to radio stations to TV and cable channels) you will be stunned at what few corporations own basically the majority of American press. Big Brother much? Project Censored delves into these issues and insists that there needs to be huge overhaul of American media, for a society's press basically reflects the society...when a country's press becomes empty, ridiculous, frivolous, and all "spin" what does that say about the society? When entertainment becomes news worthy, American society is headed towards trouble. Some people suggest this book is "liberal spin". But I ask anyone, from the few examples I gave above, do you really think this is spin or the cold-hard truth. Watch and read news magazines and papers and I dare you say otherwise.

As someone who is constantly reading periodicals, newspapers, and websites; searching for the REAL story of what's going on in the U.S. and the world, I have to say this book is absolutely wonderful. Of course a few stories in this book you have probably already read somewhere, if you stay informed. But it is unlikely that you have heard/read about them all, and furthermore this book gives you links and info about each story so you can go into depth about each suppressed story. Suppressed, that is, by the major media conglomerates who own damn near all the media out there; and soon will own even more thanks to deregulation. A good buy, and a good read. Oh yeah, and it has an introduction by good ole Greg Palast, one of the finest investigative reporters alive today.

I've been reading the annual Censored books for a few years now and I love them. But I have a mixed feeling about them. I want to know the information they contain but it sometimes depresses me. Is that a recommendation? Yes! Because unless you read diligently in the "alternative" magazines, I bet you haven't heard of 80% of these 25 stories. And most of them are very important stories. The effects of the US using depleted uranium in munitions is my current horror. It is a very scary story. Just because we haven't seen a mushroom cloud doesn't mean we're not reaping fallout. The people affected are not only in the lands where we use these weapons but also the vast majority of the soldiers we send to those countries, their spouses and children. I also love much of the ancillary material, particularly the listing which companies belong to the five largest media groups in the world. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns Fox TV but did you know that it also owns TV Guide and all HarperCollins book imprints? TimeWarner owns a huge number of media outlets including all the Turner stations (CNN, TBS, TNT, etc), more music labels than I knew existed (Atlantic, Elektra/Sire, Rhino, etc.), and several non-TimeLife publishers (Little Brown, Sunset Books, Leisure Arts, etc.) I'm always interested to read follow-ups of past stories, updating the status of legal cases and other information. I give this five stars because I think the stories in here are all vitally important, easily readable and easy to digest.

Despite living in a country founded on the ideals of "free speech", people are silenced when their opinion/commentary/etc. goes against the current status quo of the people in power. I will admit that I'm biased in my political views, but this book didn't play to that at all, instead talking about things that affect everybody. Question: Why do the elite find it so necessary to silence the truth? Reading this book is a must if you are interested in politics. 'Censored' contains extremely important social/political/economic news stories, that oddly enough, haven't found their way to the front page. The stories also offer insight into the way our country really operates.

Each year Project Censored at Sonoma State University selects 25 stories that have been under-reported or not reported at all by the national media. This year the stories range from Federal Government miss-deeds, inactions, and sneeky laws to actions by the media, large corporations and more. The stories are what you are not going to find on the evening news or on newspaper headlines, some samples: Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. Government for 9/11; The Media Can Legally Lie; U.S. Develops Letal New Bioweapon Viruses; Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens; Reinstating the Draft and so on.They are fascinating stories that while true just don't make it. I find myself wondering why these kinds of stories don't make it. There is a suspicion on the parts of the editors that there is a conspiracy to prevent these news items from being shown. On the other hand, they are dull compared with the latest splatters of blood on the ground from an explosing in Iraq, Israel, or where ever. There's an old saying, if it bleeds it leads. Certainly as Peter Philips says in the Preface, the news is being Dumbed Down. The race for ratings points has taken over from the idea of supplying the news that's needed to make a democracy work. The news is certainly covering the politicians as this is a Presidential election year. But the politicians are just attacking each other, not saying at all what they would do themselves that's different, or saying that they have a plan which they then don't discuss. After the 25 big stories, there are 14 chapters on updating stories from the previous years, or on stores requiring more in depth treatment. You don't learn what's happening until the books come out, and this is one of the key book.