149 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
149 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
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Subject: TOP 10 'CENSORED' STORIES OF 1990
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/* Written 7:57 am Apr 23, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news */
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/* ---------- "TOP 10 CENSORED STORIES OF 1990" ---------- */
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TOP TEN CENSORED STORIES FOR 1990
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Project Censored, Sunday, Feb. 24, 1991
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ROHNERT PARK--The limited media coverage given to the events which led up to
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the Gulf War was cited as the top under-reported issue of 1990, according to a
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national panel of media experts.
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... The second most under-reported story of the year focused on the botched
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and expensive solution to the savings and loan crisis while the third ranked
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story explored the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in the S&L scandal.
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Now in its 15th year, Project Censored, a national media research effort
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conducted annually by Sonoma State University, California, locates stories
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about significant issues which are not widely publicized by the national news
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media. [Founder and director of the project is Carl Jensen, professor of
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communications at the university.]
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The "ten best censored news stories of 1990" will be the subject of an
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hour-long media documentary hosted by award-winning journalist Bill Moyers...
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[The documentary, "Moyers/Project Censored," was aired on PBS stations on
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Feb. 25.]
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Following are the top ten under-reported stories of 1990:
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1. Flawed coverage of the Gulf Crisis. Traditional press skepticism was the
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first casualty in the days immediately following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
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The media, concerned about appearing to be unpatriotic, fell into the unseemly
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role of Pentagon cheerleaders for the administration. Even the Defense
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Department spokesman, Pete Williams, admitted that "the reporting has been
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largely a recitation of what administration people have said."
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2. S&L solution is worse than the crime. The $500 billion, estimated to be
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needed to bail out the savings and loan industry, is more than the entire cost
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of World War II, in current dollars and including service-connected veterans'
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benefits. The Resolution Trust Corporation, the Federal agency entrusted with
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solving the problem, is now accused of producing a massive giveaway that will
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make Teapot Dome look like a demitasse cup.
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3. The C.I.A. role in the S&L crisis. The question of what happened to the
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billions of S&L funds is partially answered by an investigative journalist who
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found links between S&L's, organized crime figures and C.I.A. operatives,
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including some involved in gun running, drug smuggling, money laundering and
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covert aid to Nicaraguan contras.
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4. NASA shuttle destroys the ozone shield. Dr. Helen Caldicott, world
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renowned physician and environmentalist, warns that every time the space
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shuttle is launched, 250 tons of hydrochloric acid is released into the air,
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contributing to the destruction of the ozone layer.
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5. Media blackout of drug war fraud. A top-ranked undercover agent, recently
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retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration, reports that the
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administration's widely-touted "drug war" is really a "psychological war,
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aimed at convincing America through the press that our government is seriously
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trying to deal with the drug problem when they're not."
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6. What really happened in Panama? New reports from non-mainstream but
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authoritative sources reveal that the legal foundations for the Panama
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invasion, the Bush-Noriega relationship, the actual American and Panamanian
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casualty figures and the post-invasion conditions in Panama have been
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misrepresented to the American people.
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7. The Pentagon's secret billion-dollar black budget. An investigation by a
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Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative journalist exposed the Pentagon's secret
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"Black Budget," which was once used to fund America's 11 intelligence
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agencies, but is now being used by the administration and the military to
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conceal the costs of many of their most expensive and controversial military
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weapons.
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8. The Bill of Rights had a close call. The mass media failed to tell the
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public about the potential repressive impact of the Gramm-Gingrich anti-crime
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bill introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House in 1990. The bill called
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for "A Declaration of National Drug and Crime Emergency," which critics say
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would have essentially nullified the Bill of Rights had it passed through
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Congress.
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9. Where was George? Despite repeated assertions by President George Bush
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that he was "out of the loop," new material from Oliver North's diaries,
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obtained through a Freedom of Information lawsuit, provided additional
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information that President Bush played a major role in the Iran-contra scandal
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from the beginning.
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10. America's banking crisis. Top economists report that the same economic
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conditions that led to the demise of the savings and loan industry are now
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eating away at our commercial banks and that the same kinds of accounting
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gimmicks that hid the S&L crisis are being used to cover up the commercial
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banking crisis.
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The other 15 under-reported stories of 1990 were:
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1. Conflict of interest over North's acquittal.
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2. The chemical industry and its cocaine connection.
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3. The big banks' role in laundering drug money.
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4. The U.S. military's toxic legacy to America.
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5. Media's VDT radiation stories that still don't make the news.
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6. Bush-Mosbacher-Baker and their lucrative leaking oil barge business.
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7. The America Library Association's fight against government secrecy.
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8. The national media ignore C.I.A. misdeeds.
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9. There was no massacre in Tienanmen square.
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10. Does the medical establishment suppress alternative cancer treatments?
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11. The United States and our global dumping grounds.
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12. Malathion: death from the skies.
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13. The C.I.A., the La Penca bombing and a murder indictment.
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14. The return of electroshock: the "new, improved" psychiatric therapy.
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15. The Congressional intelligence authorization act that would subvert the
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constitution.
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The panel of judges who selected the top ten under-reported news stories: Dr.
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Dona Allen, founding editor of Media Report to Women; Ben Bagdikian, professor
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emeritus, graduate school of journalism, University of California at Berkeley;
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Richard Barnet, Institute for Policy Studies; Noam Chomsky, professor of
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linguistics and philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr. George
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Gerbner, professor, Annenberg School of Communications, University of
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Pennsylvania; Nicholas Johnson, professor, College of Law, University of Iowa;
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Rhoda H. Karpatkin, executive director, Consumer's Union; Charles L. Klotzer,
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editor and publisher, St. Louis Journalism Review; Judith Krug, director,
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Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association; Frances Moore
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Lappe', founder and co-director, Institute for the Arts of Democracy; John
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McLaughlin, executive producer, Oliver Productions Inc.; Bill Moyers,
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executive editor, Public Affairs Television, Inc.; Jack L. Nelson, professor,
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graduate school of education, Rutgers University; Herbert I. Schiller,
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professor emeritus of communication, University of California, San Diego; and
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Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, president, D.C. Productions.
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... Prof. Carl Jensen, who created Project Censored in 1976, said "This
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media research project has been called an `early warning system' for the
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nation. The number of military and financial and economic issues that were
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under-reported in 1990 surely provided an ominous warning of what the United
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States could expect in 1991."
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Anyone interested in nominating a "censored" story of 1991 can send a copy
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of the story to Carl Jensen, Project Censored, Sonoma State University,
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Rohnert Park, California 94928. Deadline for nominations is Nov. 1, 1991.
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[Reprinted with permission]
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