The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2016-2017

If you get your news from mainstream stations like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc., these are the stories that you probably missed or only heard a mention of last year.  Some of them barely made it to alternative news as well.  

http://projectcensored.org/category/the-top-25-censored-stories-of-2016-2017/

This is from Project Censored,which has been making this list since 1976. 

Project Censored educates students and the public about the importance of a truly free press for democratic self-government.  We expose and oppose news censorship and we promote independent investigative journalism, media literacy, and critical thinking.


Any spotlight on worthy stories is welcome, but at the risk of succumbing to my biases as a career employee of mainstream media, I’d suggest that a term like “underreported” may be a better description of the criticism than “censored.” The items I checked on the list, starting at No. 25 but then deciding to go straight to the Top 5, were given “corporate news coverage” in the likes of The Times, Reuters, Newsweek, CNN and The New Yorker, among others, in one case even receiving Pulitzer attention.

No. 25: NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/us/court-costs-entrap-nonwhite-poor-juvenile-offenders.html

No. 24: BuzzFeed https://www.buzzfeed.com/darrensands/campaign-zeros-new-report-standards-on-police-use-of-force-a?utm_term=.gaWyJkww1#.bl7PQ1zz3

No. 23: Pulitzer Prize finalist

No. 5: The item itself cites The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency

No. 4: “Although independent publications like Rolling Stone, the Nation, and Mother Jones have covered the impacts of Shelby v. Holder on the 2016 election, the establishment press has not adequately covered the full extent of this change.”

That is what I mean by a critique of underreporting, rather than censorship.

No. 3: Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/bell-pottinger-pentagon-al-qaeda-south-africa-assad-664180

No. 2: CNN http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/23/politics/us-army-audit-accounting-errors/index.html

No. 1: The item itself cites Reuters https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/lead-poisoning-testing-gaps/


Even though I watch CNN, I have been following Project Censored for decades.

Taking the word 'censored' too literally is a mistake.. It's a loaded word, implying active agency by the news media to suppress these stories. That is pretty much never the case (or certainly, has rarely, if ever, shown to be the case).

It might even be the case that if the list of stories was marketed as something other than 'censored' , these lists might actually get covered better by the media. In a way, Project Censored is defeating its own purpose, which is to spread the word about these important but under-covered stories. They're just preaching to the choir.

And isn't it curious that the lists are almost 100% about liberal/lefty issues? Hmm. How does that work out? I betcha Accuracy in Media (a loathsome organization) would have quite a different list.


Why do you think the mainstream media ignored or hardly mentioned these important stories? 


Because they seek profits?

nan said:

Why do you think the mainstream media ignored or hardly mentioned these important stories? 




drummerboy said:

Because they seek profits?

nan said:

Why do you think the mainstream media ignored or hardly mentioned these important stories? 

I was thinking more along the lines of a noam chomsky like quote such as "the primary role of the mass media is to mobilize public support for the elite interests"



nan said:

Why do you think the mainstream media ignored or hardly mentioned these important stories? 

Here’s the thing about 24 hour news networks.


**** happens constantly everywhere, and they cover maybe 5 things per day, if that.


So if these are your sources of world news you will learn next to nothing. In fact the exact opposite will happen.


So, now we’ve got that out the way, what is the thread about again?


We are discussing the 25 most censored news articles of the year and why they are censored (or as some like to call them, "underreported").

Here is #1 below.  I grew up playing with old paint chips so I can relate.  I was following this issue a bit through the alternative news and there were a few places in New Jersey listed as having higher lead levels than Flint.  I think this is a huge issue, although, I think, hardly covered on CNN/MSNBC/FOX

#1 Widespread Lead Contamination Threatens Children’s Health, and Could Triple Household Water Bills


http://projectcensored.org/1-widespread-lead-contamination-threatens-childrens-health-triple-household-water-bills/


Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.


Didn't use to be that way. News divisions were expected to lose money - sort of as a way for broadcasters to fill a public good. They they found out that news is a cash cow - low overhead, high profits.

nan said:



drummerboy said:

Because they seek profits?

nan said:

Why do you think the mainstream media ignored or hardly mentioned these important stories? 

I was thinking more along the lines of a noam chomsky like quote such as "the primary role of the mass media is to mobilize public support for the elite interests"




nan said:

I was following this issue a bit through the alternative news and there were a few places in New Jersey listed as having higher lead levels than Flint.

Cheers to your attention, but alternative news sources were not alone in spreading this story, which was a project of Reuters, a mainstream news service subscribed to by many U.S. newspapers and other commercial news outlets. (How many chose to publish or broadcast “Unsafe at Any Level,” I don’t know.) Among the mainstream recognition the series received was a National Press Club Award.


The Flint issue, which has been quite overblown in terms of the effects of lead, has unfortunately had the effect of overriding the much bigger story of the more serious widespread lead contamination that is still affecting who knows how many kids. In fact, the way Flint was covered made it seem that lead contamination was some sort of crazy exception.

Kudos to Reuters for trying to straighten us Yanks out.

ETA: here's a good starting point for some more reasoned Flint reporting.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/residents-flint-need-know-truth-about-lead-poisoning/

google Kevin Drum Flint for more


The #1 is a report from a "mainstream" news source. The lead in drinking water issue isn't just an "alternative media" story. It's also not the same as the lead in paint chips issue. By the way, failures in lead paint inspection was also in the "mainstream" news recently, including the New York Times. 

nan said:

We are discussing the 25 most censored news articles of the year and why they are censored (or as some like to call them, "underreported").

Here is #1 below.  I grew up playing with old paint chips so I can relate.  I was following this issue a bit through the alternative news and there were a few places in New Jersey listed as having higher lead levels than Flint.  I think this is a huge issue, although, I think, hardly covered on CNN/MSNBC/FOX


#1 Widespread Lead Contamination Threatens Children’s Health, and Could Triple Household Water Bills





http://projectcensored.org/1-widespread-lead-contamination-threatens-childrens-health-triple-household-water-bills/




nan said:

We are discussing the 25 most censored news articles of the year and why they are censored (or as some like to call them, "underreported").

But why only 25? And who chose those ones over the hundreds of stories that aren't commented on in cable news every single day? Who at projectcensored.org decides which stories make the cut? 


someone's gotta do it.

ridski said:



nan said:

We are discussing the 25 most censored news articles of the year and why they are censored (or as some like to call them, "underreported").

But why only 25? And who chose those ones over the hundreds of stories that aren't commented on in cable news every single day? Who at projectcensored.org decides which stories make the cut? 



Not intended as a rebuff — just info. It’s interesting that one of the criteria is specifically “corporate news coverage”; I do wonder how a Reuters project’s corporate news coverage was judged deficient enough to rank the series as the top censored story.



This was big story in New Jersey, if you followed local and state news.

nan said:

We are discussing the 25 most censored news articles of the year and why they are censored (or as some like to call them, "underreported").

Here is #1 below.  I grew up playing with old paint chips so I can relate.  I was following this issue a bit through the alternative news and there were a few places in New Jersey listed as having higher lead levels than Flint.  I think this is a huge issue, although, I think, hardly covered on CNN/MSNBC/FOX


#1 Widespread Lead Contamination Threatens Children’s Health, and Could Triple Household Water Bills





http://projectcensored.org/1-widespread-lead-contamination-threatens-childrens-health-triple-household-water-bills/



That is the goal, but to get there they have to convince you that the it is OK if the elites get all the money and power.  Also, war is always good and surveillance makes us safer.  Remember when Trump bombed Syria and they were all quoting poetry and saying he was finally "presidential."  When they bring on "experts" they don't always tell you who they really represent and they neglect to provide real alternative opinions. Also, zip on the military budget. Environmental stuff gets short shrift too. There is more, but if you get all your news from mainstream news, you miss a lot.

drummerboy said:


Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.






I do not think  the term "censored" is being used accurately. To me it means that the Government or some other authority has banned something entirely or caused it to be edited to omit certain things. 



nan said:

That is the goal, but to get there they have to convince you that the it is OK if the elites get all the money and power.  Also, war is always good and surveillance makes us safer.  Remember when Trump bombed Syria and they were all quoting poetry and saying he was finally "presidential."  When they bring on "experts" they don't always tell you who they really represent and they neglect to provide real alternative opinions. Also, zip on the military budget. Environmental stuff gets short shrift too. There is more, but if you get all your news from mainstream news, you miss a lot.

drummerboy said:



Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.




I read the NY Times. I watch the PBS Newshour. I often watch MSNBC. I check Politico for political stories.

What am I missing?


Contaminated water is an undereported, not overblown story.  

drummerboy said:

The Flint issue, which has been quite overblown in terms of the effects of lead, has unfortunately had the effect of overriding the much bigger story of the more serious widespread lead contamination that is still affecting who knows how many kids. In fact, the way Flint was covered made it seem that lead contamination was some sort of crazy exception.


Kudos to Reuters for trying to straighten us Yanks out.

ETA: here's a good starting point for some more reasoned Flint reporting.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/residents-flint-need-know-truth-about-lead-poisoning/

google Kevin Drum Flint for more

Contaminated water is an undereported, not overblown story. Flint still has contaminated water, despite what the EPA says. Fracking and oil spills are also a huge concern all over the country. The best, hands down, reporting on Flint was done by Jordon Chairton at TYT (he is no longer at TYT).  He spent a HUGE amount of time there and in Indiana and North Carolina.  He spoke extensively to residents and attended town hall meetings. He followed up constantly and did a massive amount of reporting. In some of his last reports, he was starting to talk about somewhere in New Jersey, but I can't find the videos right now.  Here he is talking about water contamination.



I didn't say anything about the issue of contaminated water in general. I specifically was talking about Flint.

So naturally, you respond to what you thought I said, rather than what I actually said.


The health effects of lead in Flint were terribly overblown, which was quite unfair to Flint families who now think that their children are irrevocably impaired. It's estimated that, maybe, the net effect of lead exposure in Flint might be a loss of one IQ point, which is clearly meaningless.


nan said:

Contaminated water is an undereported, not overblown story.  
drummerboy said:

The Flint issue, which has been quite overblown in terms of the effects of lead, has unfortunately had the effect of overriding the much bigger story of the more serious widespread lead contamination that is still affecting who knows how many kids. In fact, the way Flint was covered made it seem that lead contamination was some sort of crazy exception.


Kudos to Reuters for trying to straighten us Yanks out.

ETA: here's a good starting point for some more reasoned Flint reporting.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/residents-flint-need-know-truth-about-lead-poisoning/

google Kevin Drum Flint for more

Contaminated water is an undereported, not overblown story. Flint still has contaminated water, despite what the EPA says. Fracking and oil spills are also a huge concern all over the country. The best, hands down, reporting on Flint was done by Jordon Chairton at TYT (he is no longer at TYT).  He spent a HUGE amount of time there and in Indiana and North Carolina.  He spoke extensively to residents and attended town hall meetings. He followed up constantly and did a massive amount of reporting. In some of his last reports, he was starting to talk about somewhere in New Jersey, but I can't find the videos right now.  Here he is talking about water contamination.




This is getting very tired. Yes nan, you're far better informed than the rest of us because you watch Jimmy Dorsey (or whatever the hell his name is) videos.

We get it.


nan said:

...
There is more, but if you get all your news from mainstream news, you miss a lot.

drummerboy said:



Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.






You are so wrong on this.  Flint was underblown, not overblown. The health of the people there was significantly compromised.  As i said before, no one covered Flint like Jordan Chariton.  He spent so much time there investigating on a deep level.  Other reports are superficial or damage control.  The place is still contaminated, despite what the EPA says. The EPA gave them useless filters and then declared them fine. Meanwhile the filters spread bacteria.  Also, other scientists said the filters were not even good for lead. You can get his videos on YouTube. There are tons of them that go into significant detail -- on the ground.  


drummerboy said:

I didn't say anything about the issue of contaminated water in general. I specifically was talking about Flint.

So naturally, you respond to what you thought I said, rather than what I actually said.





The health effects of lead in Flint were terribly overblown, which was quite unfair to Flint families who now think that their children are irrevocably impaired. It's estimated that, maybe, the net effect of lead exposure in Flint might be a loss of one IQ point, which is clearly meaningless.




You said you ONLY watch CNN.  I watch CNN, many other media outlets from many perspectives, and I also read newspapers and books.  So, yes, I am more informed than you.  


drummerboy said:


This is getting very tired. Yes nan, you're far better informed than the rest of us because you watch Jimmy Dorsey (or whatever the hell his name is) videos.


We get it.



nan said:

...
There is more, but if you get all your news from mainstream news, you miss a lot.

drummerboy said:



Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.






If these stories are so important, surely it would have been better to simply start a new post on the ones you were particularly moved by, to try to spark discussion and bring them attention, rather than frame it as a criticism of media coverage?

As I've noted in other threads and other contexts, IMO people get way too caught up in dissecting the "media narrative" at the expense of the actual stories.


now you're just being an ***. Where did I say I only listened to CNN?

christ. Pretty much all I do with my free time is read about political issues. I'm that boring.

And since you think that Hillary bought the election (that she lost) and that she sold our uranium to the Russkies, I'm pretty sure that I'm a damned sight more informed than you are.


And you're completely wrong about Flint. As usual.

nan said:

You said you ONLY watch CNN.  I watch CNN, many other media outlets from many perspectives, and I also read newspapers and books.  So, yes, I am more informed than you.  




drummerboy said:



This is getting very tired. Yes nan, you're far better informed than the rest of us because you watch Jimmy Dorsey (or whatever the hell his name is) videos.


We get it.



nan said:

...
There is more, but if you get all your news from mainstream news, you miss a lot.

drummerboy said:



Chomsky is wrong. The primary purpose of the mass media is to make money.  Whatever works is what they'll do.






You said you get your news from CNN. You said you felt that was Ok because you could be critical of them.  As for Flint, you can believe one Mother Jones article. I'll take the word of the guy who made dozens of videos and spent weeks there and ran town halls. Watch the last video l posted. Are those Flint residents lying?  Do you always take the word of the EPA over actual people with contaminated water? 


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