Daily Archives: May 11, 2016

Buy it, read it, act on it. Our future depends on the knowledge this col-lection of suppressed stories allows us. San Diego Review

Activist groups like Project Censored... are helping to build the media democracy movement. We have to challenge the powers that be and rebuild media from the bottom up. Amy Goodman

[Censored] offers devastating evidence of the dumbing-down of main-stream news in America.... Required reading for broadcasters, journalists, and well-informed citizens. Los Angeles Times

Censored 2014 is a clarion call for truth telling. Not only does this volume highlight fearless speech in fateful times, it connect the dots between the key issues we face, lauds our whistleblowers and amplifies their voices, and shines light in the dark places of our government that most need exposure. Daniel Ellsberg, The Pentagon Papers

Hot news, cold truths, utterly uncensored. Greg Palast

For ages, Ive dreamed of a United States where Project Censored isnt necessary, where these crucial stories and defining issues are on the front page of the New York Times, the cover of Time, and in heavy rotation on CNN. That world still doesnt exist, but we always have Project Censoreds yearly book to pull together the most important things the corporate media ignored, missed, or botched. Russ Kick, author of You Are Being Lied To, Everything You Know Is Wrong, and the New York Times bestselling series The Graphic Canon.

Project Censored interrogates the present in the same way that Oliver Stone and I tried to interrogate the past in our Untold History of the United States. It not only shines a penetrating light on the American Empire and all its deadly, destructive, and deceitful actions, it does so at a time when the Obama administration is mounting a fierce effort to silence truth-tellers and whistleblowers. Project Censored provides the kind of fearless and honest journalism we so desperately need in these dangerous times. Peter Kuznick, professor of history, American University, and coauthor, with Oliver Stone, of The Untold History of the United States

At a time when the need for independent journalism and for media outlets unaffiliated with and untainted by the government and corporate sponsors is greater than ever, Project Censored has created a context for reporting the complete truths in all matters that matter.... It is therefore left to us to find sources for information we can trust.... It is in this task that we are fortunate to have an ally like Project Cen-sored. Dahr Jamail

Most journalists in the United States believe the press here is free. That grand illusion only helps obscure the fact that, by and large, the US corporate press does not report whats really going on, while tuning out, or laughing off, all those who try to do just that. Americansnow more than everneed those outlets that do labor to report some truth. Project Censored is not just among the bravest, smartest, and most rigorous of those outlets, but the only one thats wholly focused on those stories that the corporate press ignores, downplays, and/or distorts. This latest book is therefore a must read for anyone who cares about this country, its tottering economy, andmost important whats now left of its democracy. Mark Crispin Miller, author, professor of media ecology, New York University.

[Censored] should be affixed to the bulletin boards in every newsroom in America. And, perhaps read aloud to a few publishers and television executives. Ralph Nader

Those who read and support Project Censored are in the know. Cynthia McKinney

In another home run for Project Censored, Censored 2013 shows how the American public has been bamboozled, snookered, and dumbed down by the corporate media. It is chock-full of ah-ha moments where we understand just how weve been fleeced by banksters, stripped of our civil liberties, and blindly led down a path of never-ending war. Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare, cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK.

Project Censored brings to light some of the most important stories of the year that you never saw or heard about. This is your chance to find out what got buried. Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

One of the most significant media research projects in the country. I. F. Stone

Project Censored shines a spotlight on news that an informed public must have... a vital contribution to our democratic process. Rhoda H. Karpatkin, president, Consumers Union

Project Censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism. Walter Cronkite

The staff of Project Censored presents their annual compilation of the previous years 25 stories most overlooked by the mainstream media along with essays about censorship and its consequences. The stories include an 813% rise in hate and anti-government groups since 2008, human rights violations by the US Border Patrol, and Israeli doctors injecting Ethiopian immigrants with birth control without their consent. Other stories focus on the environment, like the effects of fracking and Monsantos GMO seeds. The writers point out misinformation and outright deception in the media, including CNN relegating factual accounts to the opinion section and the whitewashing of Margaret Thatchers career following her death in 2013, unlike Hugo Chavez, who was routinely disparaged in the coverage following his death. One essay deals with the proliferation of Junk Food News, in which CNN and Fox News devoted more time to Gangnam Style than the renewal of Ugandas Kill the Gays law. Another explains common media manipulation tactics and outlines practices to becoming a more engaged, free-thinking news consumer or even citizen journalist. Rob Williams remarks on Hollywoods deep and abiding role as a popular propaganda provider via Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. An expose on working conditions in Chinese Apple factories is brutal yet essential reading. This book is evident of Project Censoreds profoundly important work in educating readers on current events and the skills needed to be a critical thinker. -Publishers Weekly said about Censored 2014 (Oct.)

Project Censored continues to be an invaluable resource in exposing and highlighting shocking stories that are routinely minimized or ignored by the corporate media. The vital nature of this work is underscored by this years NSA leaks. The world needs more brave whistle blowers and independent journalists in the service of reclaiming democracy and challenging the abuse of power. Project Censored stands out for its commitment to such work. Deepa Kumar, author of Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire and associate professor of Media Studies and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University

Here is the original post:
Project Censored - The News that Didn't Make the News and Why

A controversial film that accuses the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of covering up the link between vaccines and rising autism rates has been pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival after its inclusion sparked outrage andopponents called it intellectually dishonest and propaganda.

A day after he defended the decision to screen the documentary Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, festival co-founder Robert De Niro announced in a statement Saturday that he reversed course after reviewing the film with colleagues and experts.

My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family, the statement said. But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for.

Deadline Hollywood reported that filmmakers have accused Tribeca officials of engaging in censorship.

To our dismay, we learned today about the Tribeca Film Festivals decision to reverse the official selection of Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,' director Andrew Wakefield and producer Del Bigtree said.

It is our understanding that persons from an organization affiliated with the festival have made unspecified allegations against the film, the statement continued. We have just witnessed yet another example of the power of corporate interests censoring free speech, art, and truth. Tribecas action will not succeed in denying the world access to the truth behind the film Vaxxed.'

The film is directed and co-written by Wakefield, a polarizing anti-vaccination activist and onetime gastroenterologist whose medical license was revoked by Britains General Medical Council, according to CBS News. Wakefield is also the author of a widely discounted study published in the medical journal the Lancet, in 1998 that was retracted in 2010. Studies from the independent, nonprofit Institute of Medicine, the World Health Organization and the CDC have discredited the notion that a link exists between vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder, according to the Huffington Post.

The substantial evidence explains why the decision to screen the film drew intense scrutiny from medical experts.

On Friday, De Niro released a statement explaining his decision to screen the film next month, but he noted that he was not personally endorsing the film and is not anti-vaccination.

Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined, the statement said. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming.

However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening the film, the statement added.

The statement set off a new round of debate on the festivals Facebook page, with users leaving thousands of heated comments.

Why shouldnt there be discussion around this? one commenter wrote. This is supposed to be a country of free speech.

To say that discussion has not been ongoing before this obvious bit of propaganda is screened is intellectually dishonest, another said. The discussion has been going on for decades and the answer has remained the same. There is no valid science that backs a vaccine-autism link. None.

To say that discussion has not been ongoing before this obvious bit of propaganda is screened is intellectually dishonest

A trailer for the film begins with ominous music and a single question:

Are our children safe?

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Filmmakers accuse Robert De Niro of censorship after he ...