Project Censored: Is the Press Really Free? (1998)
A 1-hour documentary examining the work of one of the country's most respected media watchdogs: Sonoma State University's Project Censored. This film exposes the existence and frequency of censorship in today's mainstream news, includes in-depth reports on five of the project's yearly "top ten" stories of the recent past, and investigates many of the reasons why these important stories have been ignored by the press. And, it reveals the frightening outcomes that befall journalists who investigate these controversial stories.
Project Censored features impressive list of media experts who discuss the various reasons behind censorship: how corporate pressures shape news delivery, how PR departments and government agencies are pipelining stories to the media, and how consolidation of news sources has eliminated a diversity of viewpoints in news delivery. The film also includes revealing interviews with Gary Webb, author of the Dark Alliance series, as well as Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, fired Fox reporters from Florida who produced a chilling, never-to-be-seen report on Bovine Growth Hormone.
Did you hear of any of these stories in the mainstream media?
The government routinely gives away potent arms. Weapons such as F-16 warplanes, M-60 tanks, even Guided Missile Destroyers have been sold under this program. Who gets these weapons? In each of its last 6 military conflicts, U.S. Soldier have faced opponents who were armed - by us - through these deals.
What do Crest Toothpaste, Johnson's Baby Powder, and Cover Girl make-up have in common? If you guessed that using these products and others like them could kill you, you'd be correct.
In 1997 NASA launched the Cassinni Probe to explore Saturn and its moons. On board was 72.3 pounds of deadly, radioactive plutonium, enough to kill possibly 40 million people. The launch beat the odds -- the failure-prone Titan IV rocket - a launch vehicle with a questionable safety record - didn't explode. But what if it had?
Our nation's dairy farmers are using a laboratory designed hormone to increase production, but is it safe? And what happens to reporters who try and find out?
The CIA organized an international drug smuggling ring in the 1980's in order to illegally finance a revolutionary army in Nicaragua. This drug ring was largely responsible for the crack cocaine explosion in urban America. And to what lengths did the mainstream press go to keep this story under wraps?
Here's what others have had to say about this film:
"...a wake-up call about the control of information in what is supposed to be a democratic country." Howard Zinn
"This film asks a tough question -- 'Is the press really free?' -- and dares to provide some important answers without fear or favor. The result is a documentary that indicts the U.S. mass media at the end of the 20th century. Watch it and think anew." Norman Solomon
"...provides stark and illuminating examples of just how insipid U.S. journalism has become, the dire consequences for democracy, and what citizens should do about it. This video should be seen by all who care about democracy and media." Robert W. McChesney
