by Mickey Huff
38. On Senator Vandenburg advising President Truman to “scare the hell out of the American people,” see, e.g., Gore Vidal, Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of America (New York: Avalon, 2004), 97.
39. Saybrook, “It Came From Hollywood,” 62.
40. Ibid., emphasis added.
41. Marco Iacoboni, Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect With Others (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2008), 124. “Although we commonly think of pain as a fundamentally private experience, our brain actually treats it as an experience shared with others.”
42. Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution (New York: HarperCollins, 1990[980]).
43. Tom Hayden, “Calls for Withdrawal from Iraq Echoing in Washington,” AlterNet, September 19, 2005, http://www.alternet.org/story/25686/calls_for_withdrawal_from_iraq_echoing_in_washington.
44. Bombay Chronicle, November 18, 1932. See http://www.mkgandhi.org/momgandhi/chap05.htm.
45. See, e.g., Amit Goswami, God Is Not Dead: What Quantum Physics Tells Us about Our Origins and How We Should Live (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Co., 2012[2008]).
46. See the glossary on our website, MettaCenter.org.
47. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” Oberlin College Commencement Address, June 1965, http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/BlackHistoryMonth/MLK/CommAddress.html.
48. By stark contrast, the US military also attempts to use the image and words of Martin Luther King Jr. to legitimize its military mission. In January 2013, the US Air Force’s Global Strike Command published a promotional piece titled “Dr. King’s Dream for the Global Strike Team.” Independent media have been quick to point out the travesty, but this shows that King and his legacy have a moral cachet that the military feels a need to appropriate. See, e.g., Glenn Green-wald, “US Military Says Martin Luther King Would Be Proud of Its Weapons,” Guardian, January 22, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/martin-luther-king-military-weapons; and David Sirota, “Martin Luther King Jr., Champion of Military Defense?,” Salon, February 1, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/02/01/martin_luther_king_jr_champi-on_of_military_defense.
49. For a good example of how independent media can provide more “New Story” insights, see Sarah van Gelder’s foreword to this volume.
50. Folks in Strike Debt and Occupy Wall St., “Colonizer as Lender: Free Palestine, Occupy Wall Street, Strike Debt,” Tidal, February 2013, http://tidalmag.org/issue4/colonizer-as-lender, as quoted in Nathan Schneider, “A New Kind of Palestine Solidarity—The Strike Debt Analysis,” Waging Nonviolence, March 4, 2013, http://wagingnonviolence.org/2013/03/a-new-kind-of-pal-estine-solidarity-the-strike-debt-analysis.
Acknowledgments
Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth
We would like to thank everyone that has contributed to Project Censored over the past thirty-seven years. For those who contributed directly to this year’s volume, we offer thanks and pay our respects:
To the courageous independent journalists who continue to file real news, without which the Project would be impossible. Your work inspires us.
To the faculty evaluators and student researchers at our college and university affiliates around the world, as the eyes and ears of Project Censored, you help us keep up with the cutting edge of independent journalism.
To the authors in Censored 2014, your research and writing connects the dots among the Top 25 stories, and your contributions exemplify fearless speech in fateful times.
To our national and international judges, your dedication and expertise assures that our Top 25 list includes only the best, most significant independent news stories each year.
To our stalwart publishers at Seven Stories Press in New York, including the intrepid Dan Simon at the helm; Veronica Liu, our sharp-eyed, tireless editor; Jon Gilbert for his impeccable design layout; Crystal Yakacki for publicity; and Stewart Cauley for cover design. You, and the entire Seven Stories crew—including Liz DeLong, Ruth Weiner, Anne Rumberger, Silvia Stramenga, Amber Qureshi, Sadie Trombetta, and Jesse Lichtenstein, as well as interns Arielle Holstein, Tiffany Xu, Erin Carden, and Ellen Waddell—have our deepest respect and appreciation for making the commitment to publish the Project’s research, and for doing so in record time each year.
To Marcia Annenberg, artist, who graciously gave us permission to use detail from her piece, “No News Is Good News,” as the striking image on the cover of Censored 2014.
To Dr. Carl Jensen, founder of Project Censored in 1976, whose original vision and defiance of the status quo continue to inspire this Project.
To Dr. Peter Phillips, who has dedicated so much of his life to extending Project Censored’s influence through his teaching, writing, and speaking. Peter is an exemplar of the educator as public intellectual, engaging people in discussions about media, democracy, and human liberation wherever he goes.
To Christopher Oscar and Doug Hecker, with Hole in the Media Productions, for Project Censored: The Movie—Ending the Reign of Junk Food News, a six-year labor of love that brings the Project to the attention of an even broader audience.
To the board of directors at the Media Freedom Foundation, the nonprofit parent of Project Censored, who provide organizational structure, and invaluable counsel. You keep us on course in pursuing Project Censored’s mission.
To our friends and supporters at Pacifica and KPFA 94.1 FM, Free Speech Radio in Berkeley CA, which broadcasts The Project Censored Show on The Morning Mix each Friday morning. Summer Reese, Tracy Rosenberg, Andrew Phillips, Veronica Faisant, Anthony Fest, Dennis Bernstein, Miguel Molina, Kirsten Thomas, and Rod Akil all contribute to making The Project Censored Show a strong presence on the air.
To Adam Armstrong, who helps Project Censored reach its global Internet audience.
To the inimitable Khalil Bendib, whose cartoons again add luster and edge to our annual volume.
To Abby Martin, host of Breaking the Set on RT, founder of Media-Roots, colleague and ally in media freedom.
To Dr. Michel Chossudovsky and the Centre for Research on Globalization, which maintains the website GlobalResearch.ca.
To Allan Rees of No Lies Radio and Ken Jenkins, who record and broadcast our events online.
To the team at the Progressive Radio Network, for rebroadcasting The Project Censored Show each week.
To colleagues and staff at Diablo Valley College for their support and informed conversation, including Hedy Wong, Greg Tilles, Dr. Matthew Powell, Melissa Jacobson, Dr. Manual Gonzales, Nolan Hig-don, Dr. Jacob Van Vleet, Adam Bessie, David Vela, Obed Vazquez, Dr. Lyn Krause, Dr. Steve Johnson, Dr. Jeremy Cloward, Dr. Amer Araim, and Dr. Mark Akiyama.
To T. M. Skruggs, Richard and Janet Oscar, Brian Martin Murphy, Steve Outtrim at Majitek, and the late Elizabeth Shariff for their generous financial support.
To Dorothy Andersen, and the late Alfred F. Andersen, of the Fair Share of the Common Heritage, for helping us to reestablish the Commons as a crucial element of public life.
On a personal note, to Meg, Liz, and our families and close friends, who have supported and encouraged us.
And to you, our readers, supporters, and global citizen-agitators, you share our goal of creating a truly free press, one that champions the voice of the People, in service of democratic self-government.
MEDIA FREEDOM FOUNDATION/PROJECT CENSORED
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carl Jensen (founder), Peter Phillips (president), Mickey Huff, Andy Lee Roth, Bill Simon, Elaine Wellin, Derrick West, Kenn Burrows, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Abby Martin, Brian Martin Murphy, and T. M. Skruggs; with thanks to outgoing board member, Mary Lia.
Project Censored 2012–13 National And International Judges
JULIE ANDRZEJEWSKI, professor of human relations, cofounder of the Social Responsibility Program, St. Cloud State University. Publications include Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education.
> ROBIN ANDERSEN, associate professor and chair, Department of Communication and Media Studies, and director of Peace and Justice Studies, Fordham University. Publications: Critical Studies in Media Commercialism.
OLIVER BOYD-BARRETT, professor in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations, Bowling Green State University. Publications: The International New Agencies (1980), The Globalization of News (1998), Media in Global Context (2009), and Hollywood and the CIA: Cineman, Defense and Subversion (2011).
KENN BURROWS, faculty member for the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University. Director of the Holistic Health Learning Center and producer of the biennial conference, Future of Health Care.
ERNESTO CARMONA, journalist and writer. Director of the Chilean Council of Journalists. Executive secretary of the Investigation Commission on Attacks Against Journalists, Latin American Federation of Journalists (CIAP-FELAP).
ELLIOT D. COHEN, freelance journalist. Director, Institute of Critical Thinking: National Center for Logic-Based Therapy. Executive director, National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA). Editor and founder, International Journal of Applied Philosophy. Recent books: Mass Surveillance and State Control (2010), Critical Thinking Unleashed (2009), and The Dutiful Worrier. How to Stop Compulsive Worry without Feeling Guilty (2011).
JOSE MANUEL DE-PABLOS, professor at University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain). Founder of scientific journal Revis-ta Latina de Comunicacion Social (RLCS), Laboratory of Information Technologies and New Analysis of Communication.
GEOFF DAVIDIAN, investigative journalist and editor, The Putnam Pit (Milwaukee). Publications include Reuters, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Globe and Mail (Toronto), the New York Daily News, Albuquerque Journal, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Vancouver Sun.
LENORE FOERSTEL, Women for Mutual Security. Facilitator of the Progressive International Media Exchange (PRIME).
ROBERT HACKETT, professor at the School of Communication, Simon Fraser University. Co-director of News Watch Canada since 1993. Cofounder of Media Democracy Day (2001) and openmedia. ca (2007). Publications include Expanding Peace Journalism (coedited with I. S. Shaw and J. Lynch, 2011) and Remaking Media: The Struggle to Democratize Public Communication (with William K. Carroll, 2006).
KEVIN HOWLEY, professor of media studies, DePauw University. Author of Community Media: People, Places, and Communication Technologies (2005). Editor of Understanding Community Media (2010) and Media Interventions (2013).
CARL JENSEN, professor emeritus of communication studies, Sonoma State University. Founder and former director of Project Censored. Author of Censored: The News That Didn’t Make the News and Why (1990–96), 20 Years of Censored News (1997), and Stories that Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century (2002).
NICHOLAS JOHNSON,* professor at College of Law, University of Iowa. Former FCC Commissioner (1966–73). Author of How to Talk Back to Your Television Set.
CHARLES L. KLOTZER, founder, editor, and publisher emeritus of St. Louis Journalism Review.
NANCY KRANICH, lecturer, School of Communication and Information, and special projects librarian, Rutgers University. Past president of the American Library Association (ALA).
DEEPA KUMAR, associate professor of media studies and Middle East studies at Rutgers University. Author of Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization and the UPS Strike (2007) and Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire (2012).
MARTIN LEE, investigative journalist and author. Cofounder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and former editor of FAIR’s magazine, Extra! Director of Project CBD, a medical science information service. Author of Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana, The Beast Reawakens and Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties and Beyond.
DENNIS LOO, associate professor of sociology at California State University Polytechnic University-Pomona. Coeditor of Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney.
PETER LUDES, professor of mass communication, Jacobs University Bremen. Founder in 1997 of German initiative on news enlightenment, publishing the most neglected German news (Project Censored Germany). Editor, Algorithms of Power: Key Invisibles (2011).
WILLIAM LUTZ, professor emeritus of English, Rutgers University. Former editor of The Quarterly Review of Doublespeak. Author of Doublespeak Defined (1999); The New Doublespeak: Why No One Knows What Anyone’s Saying Anymore (1996); Doublespeak: From Revenue Enhancement to Terminal Living (1989); and The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English (1994).
SILVIA LAGO MARTINEZ, professor of sociology, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Codirector, Gino Germani Research Institute Program for Research on Information Society.
CONCHA MATEOS, faculty in the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid). Journalist for radio, television, and political organizations in Spain and Latin America. Coordinator for Project Censored in Europe and Latin America.
BRIAN MARTIN MURPHY, associate professor and chair of communications studies, Niagara University.
JACK L. NELSON,* Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University. Former member, AAUP Academic Freedom Committee. Author of seventeen books, including Critical Issues in Education, 8th ed. (2013), and approximately 200 articles.
PETER PHILLIPS, professor of sociology, Sonoma State University. Director, Project Censored, 1996–2009. President, Media Freedom Foundation. Editor/coeditor of fourteen editions of Censored, and co-editor, with Dennis Loo, of Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney (2006).
NANCY SNOW, professor of communications, California State Uni-versity-Fullerton, and adjunct professor of communications and public diplomacy, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California. Author/editor of seven books, including Information War and Propaganda, Inc.
SHEILA RABB WEIDENFELD,* president, DC Productions, Ltd. Emmy Award-winning television producer. Former press secretary to Betty Ford.
ROB WILLIAMS, media educator, musician, historian, journalist, and professor, University of Vermont and Champlain College. Publisher of the newspaper Vermont Commons: Voices of Independence.
* Indicates having been a Project Censored judge since our founding in 1976.
Report from the Media
Freedom Foundation
President
Media Freedom Foundation (MFF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that sponsors Project Censored and all its various programs. MFF has a ten-person board of directors that is responsible for monitoring the budget and setting policy for our operations. Mickey Huff is director of Project Censored and has overall responsibility for its day-to-day management and for production of the annual Censored yearbook. Associate Director Andy Lee Roth serves in a similar administrative capacity and has been heavily involved in writing and researching Censored 2014 and earlier yearbooks. This report details some of Project Censored’s daily work and annual endeavors on behalf of media democracy in action.
We each are regularly invited speakers at community events, college campuses, academic conferences, and independent bookstores, addressing the issues of media censorship, propaganda, and the importance of accurate independent media in society. To arrange for a member of our speaking team to come to your community or campus, see ProjectCensored.org/speakers.
We are approaching our third year of producing and hosting the weekly one-hour Project Censored Show on The Morning Mix for KPFA/Pacifica Radio. The Project Censored Show presents original content every Friday at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, at 94.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay region and online at KPFA.org. Our affiliate stations include the Progressive Radio Network, No Lies Radio, and several Pa-cifica Radio stations around the country. Please ask your local public/ nonprofit radio station to air our weekly shows. See ProjectCensored.org/radio-archive for a listing of past broadcasts and guests. These archived public affairs broadcasts—available at no charge—make excellent classroom listening for high school and colleg
e classes.
We currently have students and faculty from nearly twenty colleges and universities researching and posting Validated Independent News stories (VINs), which are news stories reported in the independent media that have been ignored by corporate media. Students and professors affiliated with Project Censored vet and research these stories, which Project Censored then posts on its website. These VINs become the candidates for our annual list of the Top 25 censored news stories. Reading independent news and comparing it to corporate media coverage is an important part of many high school and college critical thinking classes. Teaching college classes, helping students to learn about alternative news outlets, and mentoring them in writing VINs are hands-on components of our effort to create a more media literate society. We welcome inquiries from faculty and students at college and university campuses interested in becoming Project Censored affiliates.
MFF/Project Censored continues to maintain a website, CensoredNews.org, with daily RSS newsfeeds from approximately twenty sources that we trust for quality news. Helping the public identify and evaluate trustworthy sources of daily news is an important part of freedom of information, which is vital to all democratic societies. Adam Armstrong continues to serve as the webmaster for all the MFF/Project Censored websites, including our Spanish-language site, ProyectoCensurado.org. We have around 400,000 unique views each month, with millions of monthly hits. Adam also founded and maintains the blog DailyCensored.com, which has over fifty regular writers posting news stories and opinion. As we redesign and upgrade all our websites to state-of-the-art status, we will have movie-and book-downloading capabilities and increasingly stronger daily news and information. Adam is a vital part of the Project Censored team.
We are pleased to announce that MFF board member Abby Martin of Media Roots is continuing her program Breaking the Set on Russia Today in Washington DC. In addition to her duties at RT, she remains on the MFF board, and continues to update video content for Project Censored and Media Roots (MediaRoots.org).