Censored 2010: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008-09 [Paperback]

Project Censored (Editor), Peter Phillips (Editor), Mickey Huff (Editor), Dahr Jamail (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

The yearly volumes of Censored, in continuous publication since 1976 and since 1995 available through Seven Stories Press, is dedicated to the stories that ought to be top features on the nightly news, but that are missing because of media bias and self-censorship. The top stories are listed democratically in order of importance according to students, faculty, and a national panel of judges. Each of the top stories is presented at length, alongside updates from the investigative reporters who broke the stories.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PROJECT CENSORED, founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen, has as its principal objective the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom of information in the United States. In 2008, Project Censored received the PEN/Oakland Literary Censorship Award for the publication of Censored 2009. For more information, visit www.projectcensored.org.
PETER PHILLIPS, director emeritus of Project Censored and president of the Media Freedom Foundation, is an associate professor of sociology at Sonoma State University. He is known for his op-ed pieces in the alternative press and independent newspapers nationwide, such as Z Magazine and Social Policy. He is also the winner of the 2009 Dallas Smythe Award, presented by the Union for Democratic Communication.
MICKEY HUFF is the new director of Project Censored and sits on the board of directors of the Media Freedom Foundation (MFF) which oversees Project Censored (http://projectcensored.org). He works closely with former Project Censored director Dr. Peter Phillips through MFF and helps coordinate the new Project Censored International College and Affiliates Program (http://mediafreedominternational.org) When he has time, he posts at the Project Censored blog (http://dailycensored.com). He is also an associate professor of history at Diablo Valley College, as well as a musician and composer for over twenty years. He lives with his family just outside Berkeley, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158322890X
• ISBN-13: 978-1583228906
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting Down to the Real News of the Year, October 18, 2009

By 

Sasha A. Rae "Directora de Mentes No Convenci... (Latin America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Censored 2010: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008-09 (Paperback)

This book is a breath of fresh air in a stagnating media system. Where the mainstream media is dedicated more to reporting the antics of Britney Spears (or her sister) than giving us actual news, Project Censored is focused on finding and reporting the most important stories of the year. And there's no one better to get down to the real news than the team at Project Censored. This group of well-respected, conscientious professors, students, and interns knows exactly how to unearth the facts and stories hidden from the public.

Their research methods say it all. They comb through 200 publications and 1000 websites to find the news not covered in the U.S. media. They then pump up the volume on their dig for the truth by delving into three different databases -- Lexis Nexis, Dow Jones, and PearlQuest -- looking for any coverage of the stories by mainstream media. When they do find a story, they examine it to see how long the story was and whether it was broadcast during prime times or in off hours. If that isn't enough, they then send the stories to industry experts to check the veracity of the information. By the time they're done, the staff at Project Censored have completely vetted each and every story. Their exhaustive research gives them the perfect platform to report what's missing in the news and to challenge those in power, both on the left and on the right.

Censored 2010 is just another example of their exemplary reporting skills. Nice job, Project Censored! Keep up the great work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All governments are bad, and some are worse (Matha Gellhorn), December 23, 2009

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Censored 2010: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008-09 (Paperback)

The Censored Yearbooks are bright suns in the dark and dismal US media scene, which spews nearly only circus sideshows or propaganda for the military-industrial complex and its quest for global dominance. The media are becoming irrelevant and even destructive for democracy. The newspaper `business' is dying. People don't like to pay for propaganda.
Censure, manipulation of reality or non-inclusion of important stories under legal (threat of lawsuits), economic (advertising) or political pressure are legion.
The following important issues were not worth making headlines in 2008-2009: the systemic erosion of human rights and civil liberties (habeas corpus), the world's catastrophic climate change, the depletion of the world's natural resources, the 35 year decline in real labor wages, the height of the child mortality in the US, an US unemployment rate of at least 15 %, a US multi-trillion national debt, a US defense budget as big as that of the rest of the world combined, the real culprits of the global economic meltdown or military misadventures in sovereign States.

The Top 25 Censored stories of 2008-2009 contain such important issues as the roots of the Somalian piracy (toxic waste dumping and illegal fishing in their waters), the investments of members of Congress in major defense contractors, election fraud and the mysterious death of a `man in the middle', secret control of Presidential debates, destruction of the environment by oil exploration (Amazon rain forest) or by the dumping of toxic and nuclear waste (US, Somalia), racism, lobbyism, welfare cuts and (for the Nobel Prize Committee) Barack Obama's appointments of members of the Trilateral Commission and corrupt military leaders (trillions of dollars disappeared in the Department of Defense accounts).

In the follow-up of former Top 25 censored stories, this yearbook signals the settlement by Shell Oil of a lawsuit launched by anti-oil protesters and by the family of the great writer K. Saro-Wiwa scandalously condemned and executed on order of a Nigerian tribunal. Also, flammable thermitic materials have been found in dust samples produced by the destruction of the WTC towers on 9/11 (!).

This all important yearbook, brilliantly illustrated by Khalil Bendiz, is a must read for all those who want to understand the world we live in.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A needed antidote to Mainstream Media Bias, August 4, 2010

By 

Sean Mulligan (Alpharetta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Censored 2010: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008-09 (Paperback)

With today's media dominated by large corporations who are at best hesitant to report some of the most important stories, if those stories challenge powerful corporate interests, Project Censored is badly needed.

This years Project Censored Yearbook, documents many important stories that have been negleted by the mainstream media such as the origins of Somali piracy, the continued U.S. backed repression in Haiti, the fact that U.S. schools are as segregated as they were in 1954 at the time of the Brown Vs Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, and the corrupt backgrounds of many of Obama's military appointees.

The stories may depress the reader, but the Project Censored Year Book also contains uplifting stories of how people around the world are organizing to fight for social change.