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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Project Censored Releases Censored 2008 and its pick of the most important under-covered news stories of 2006-07

Project Censored announces its selection of the Top Censored News Stories of the 2006-2007 cycle. Each year since 1976, hundreds of student researchers, faculty, and volunteer members come together to select the most important news stories that were under-covered, glossed over or ignored by the country’s major media outlets.

The 25 stories make up the first chapter of the Censored 2008 yearbook published by Seven Stories press. Following chapters provide updates on previous stories, review the growth of grass roots Media Democracy, the year’s Junk Food News, and Ten Signs of Hope that corporate media ignored. Censored 2008 also offers real news about internet freedom, images of the war, and the impact of Big Media on children.

With an introduction by Dennis Loo and the political cartoon commentary of John Jonik throughout, this year’s book covers some of the most critical issues facing the American people today. The Top 25 stories focus on issues such as civil rights, politics, economics, foreign policy, food and health, the environment, energy, domestic policy, and the military.

“Corporate media in the United States are interested primarily in entertainment news to feed their bottom-line priorities,” states Peter Phillips, Director of the Project. “Some of the most important news stories that should reach the American public falls on the cutting room floor to be replaced by sex-scandals and celebrity updates.”

The Sonoma State University research group is composed of over 200 faculty, students and community experts who review hundreds of story submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and national significance. The top 25 stories are submitted to a panel of judges who then rank them in order of importance. Current and former judges include Michael Parenti, Cynthia McKinney, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and 20 other national journalists, scholars and writers.

Censored 2008, now available in bookstores nationwide, can also be purchased on the project’s website at www.projectcensored.org.

Project Censored will host the award winning authors of the Censored 2008 stories at the second annual Media Accountability Conference October 26-27 at Sonoma State University. Conference Information on line at: http://www.projectcensored.org/conference/07MAConf.htm

Censored 2008 was edited by Peter Phillips and Andrew Roth professors of Sociology at Sonoma State University.

For on-air interviews contact publicist interns:

Margo Tyack: tyack@sonoma.edu

Gabrielle Robinson: Gabrielle CMrobinson@hotmail.com