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(EDITOR'S NOTE: A NATIONAL PANEL OF MEDIA EXPERTS ANNUALLY SELECTS
THE TOP TEN UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF THE YEAR)
AMERICA'S INFORMATION MONOPOLY
TOPS UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF 1987
ROHNERT PARK -- The rapidly increasing concentration of media
ownership in America and its impact on a free society topped the list of 25
overlooked issues of 1987 according to a national panel of media experts.
The second most undercovered story of the year, cited by Project
Censored, concerned the mounting evidence of a large-scale contra/CIA drug
smuggling network.
Now in its 12th year, Project Censored, a national media research
effort conducted annually at Sonoma State University, California, locates
stories about significant issues which are not widely publicized by the
national news media.
Following are the top ten under-reported news stories of 1987 as
announced by project director Carl Jensen, professor of communication
studies at Sonoma State University:
1. The Information Monopoly. Media expert Ben Bagdikian found that
in 1987 just 29 corporations controlled half or more of the media business
in America. Wall Street analysts of the media predict that only half a
dozen giant firms will control most of our media by the 1990s. The impact
of this information cartel on a free society is ignored by the mass media.
2. The U.S. and Its Contra/Drug Connection. An investigation
by the Christic Institute, along with testimony before Congressional
committees last year, revealed a startling picture of large-scale drug
trafficking under the auspices of the U.S. government/contra supply
network. In the midst of Nancy Reagan's well-publicized "Just Say No" to
drugs campaign, the mainstream media failed to expose the contra gun-
running operation that provided a safe conduit for drugs into the U.S.
3. Unreported Worldwide Nuclear Accidents. In 1987, the West German
weekly DER SPIEGEL published secret nuclear reactor accident reports
compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The reports, translated
into English and published in a small circulation U.S. publication, were
ignored by the major media. DER SPIEGEL said that "a meltdown was a real
possibility" in several of the accidents and warned that human error is
most prevalent in North America.
4. Reagan's Mania for Secrecy. Even though President Reagan
proclaimed 1987 the "Year of the Reader," three major reports published in
1987 charged that because of the Reagan administration's penchant for
secrecy, there was less to read last year. The reports detail how a massive
network of executive orders, secret directives, and administrative edicts
institutionalized secrecy throughout the government and put unprecedented
controls on information available to the public.
5. George Bush's Role in the Iran Arms Deal. Evidence surfaced last
year which indicates that Vice President Bush, far more than President
Reagan, promoted the Iran arms initiative, took part in secret
negotiations, and conferred upon Oliver North the secret powers to carry it
out. The evidence suggests that Bush supported the Iran arms sales because
of an economic motive
-- the desire to stabilize dropping oil prices.
6. Biowarfare Research in University Laboratories. Overshadowed by
Star Wars, the push toward biowarfare has been one of the Reagan
administration's best kept secrets. Despite an international agreement
which bans the development of germ-warfare agents, the Pentagon's research
budget for infectious diseases and toxins has increased tenfold since
fiscal '81 and most of the '86 budget of $42 million went to 24 U.S.
university campuses where the world's most deadly organisms are being
cultured in campus labs.
7. Biased Press Coverage of Arias Peace Plan. Two studies monitoring
U.S. press coverage of the Arias peace plan found significant bias in the
coverage. The New York-based Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting group
concluded that the study showed how "Reagan's obsession with Nicaragua has
turned into a media obsession." The other study, by the Media Alliance, a
San Francisco-based group of media professionals, concluded that most of
the newspapers studied followed the Reagan administration's direction as to
what deserved coverage in Central America.
8. Dumping Our Toxic Wastes on the Third World. Exporting hazardous
and toxic wastes to Third World countries is a growth industry. The
exported material includes heavy metal residues and chemical-contaminated
wastes, pharmaceutical refuse, and municipal sewage sludge and incinerator
ash. The risks for countries that accept our wastes range from
contamination of groundwater and crops to birth defects and cancer. Since
we import food from some of these same countries, our exported hazardous
wastes could easily end up on our own dinner tables.
9. The Censored Report of Torture in El Salvador. A 165-page report
smuggled out of the Mariona men's prison in El Salvador by the Human Rights
Commission of El Salvador, documents the "routine" use of at least 40 kinds
of torture on political prisoners. Prisoners are systematically tortured by
Salvadoran police forces who are trained and occasionally supervised by
American military advisers. The use of torture reportedly is part of the
U.S. counterinsurgency program in El Salvador.
10. Project Galileo Shuttle to Carry Lethal Plutonium. Despite dire
scientific warnings of a possible disaster, NASA is pursuing plans to
launch the Project Galileo shuttle space probe with 49 pounds of plutonium
on it. Theoretically, one pound of plutonium, evenly distributed, could
give everyone on the planet a fatal case of lung cancer. Critics of the
plan claim that putting Galileo's plutonium payload into space is both
risky and unnecessary.
The other 15 under-reported stories of 1987 were: U.S. Sends Bullets
to Starving Children in Honduras; Decline in Genetic Diversity: Global
Disaster in the Making; The United States: An International Outlaw; The
Tragedy of Grenada Since October 25, 1983; The FBI Tries To Turn America's
Librarians Into Spies; Reagan's 1980 "October Surprise" -- Arms For
Hostages; Oliver North's Secret Plan to Declare Martial Law; Non-ionizing
Radiation and Public Health/Safety Hazards; Glowing Outlook For Food
Irradiation Business; The Growth of Economic Apartheid in America; OMB
Compiling Nationwide Blacklist of Grant Violators; Roundup: the World's
Most Popular Weed Killer; Puerto Rico: The Revolution at Our Doorstep;
Congressional Conflict of Interest: "Company" Man Probes Contras; Millions
of America's Animals Tested, Maimed, and Killed Annually.
PROJECT CENSORED JUDGES
The panel of jurors who selected the top ten stories were: Dr. Donna
Allen, founding editor of MEDIA REPORT TO WOMEN; Ben Bagdikian, Dean,
Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley; Noam
Chomsky, professor, Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; John Kenneth Galbraith, economist, Harvard University; George
Gerbner, professor, Annenberg School of Communications, University of
Pennsylvania; Nicholas Johnson, professor, College of Law, University of
Iowa; Charles L. Klotzer, editor and publisher, THE ST. LOUIS JOURNALISM
REVIEW; Brad Knickerbocker, national news editor, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR;
Judith Krug, Director, Office for Intellectual Freedom, American
Library Association; Bill Moyers, Executive Editor, Public Affairs
Television; Jack L. Nelson, professor, Graduate School of Education,
Rutgers University; Herbert I. Schiller, Professor of Communication,
University of California, San Diego; George Seldes, America's Emeritus
Journalist and author of THE GREAT THOUGHTS; Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld,
president, D.C. Productions; Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor-
in-Chief, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT.
Sonoma State University student researchers participating in the
nationwide research effort were Frances Caballo, Carolina Clare, Morley
Cowan, Nana Nash, Mark Pierson, Lance Plaza, Kevin W.Rose, Roxanne
Turnage, and Kelly Wendt.
Jensen, who originated the media research project in 1976, said "The
increasing centralization of information sources, combined with the Reagan
administration's mania for secrecy, significantly reduced the flow of
information to the American people last year. Each of the stories cited
above should have been on the front page of every newspaper and on every
network news program in the country. The fact that they weren't suggests
there is an effective covert form of censorship in America."
Anyone interested in nominating a 1988 story for next year's project
can send a copy of the story to Carl Jensen, Project Censored, Sonoma State
University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: SIDEBAR STORY FOLLOWS)
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA
CITED FOR EXPOSING "CENSORED" STORIES
Following are the investigative journalists and media cited by Project
Censored for exploring the top ten issues overlooked or under-reported by
the national news media in 1987:
1. The Information Monopoly -- EXTRA!, 6/87, "The 26 corporations
that own our media," and MULTINATIONAL MONITOR, 9/87, "The Media Brokers,"
both by Ben Bagdikian; UTNE READER, 1/88, Censorship in Publishing," by
Lynette Lamb.
2. The U.S. and Its Contra/Drug Connection -- THE CHRISTIC INSTITUTE
SPECIAL REPORT, 11/87, "The Contra-Drug Connection" by Daniel P. Sheehan;
NEWSDAY, 6/28/87, "Witness: Contras Got Drug Cash," by Knut Royce; THE
NATION, 9/5/87, "How the Drug Czar Got Away," by Martin A. Lee; IN THESE
TIMES, 4/15/87, "CIA, contras hooked on drug money," by Vince Bielski and
Dennis Bernstein.
3. Unreported Worldwide Nuclear Accidents -- EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL,
Summer, 1987, "Secret Documents Reveal Nuclear Accidents Worldwide," by Gar
Smith with Hans Hollitscher; EXTRA!, 6/87, "Nuclear Broadcasting Company."
4. Reagan's Mania for Secrecy -- THE NATION, 5/23/87, "History
Deleted;" GOVERNMENT SECRECY: DECISIONS WITHOUT DEMOCRACY, 12/87, by People
For The American Way; FYI MEDIA ALERT 1987, 3/87, "The Reagan
Administration & The News Media," by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of
the Press; THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Washington Office, "Less
Access to Less Information By and About the U.S. Government: IX," 12/87, by
Anne A. Heanue.
5. George Bush's Role in the Iran Arms Deal -- PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE,
12/21/87, "Bush had oil policy interest in promoting Iran arms deals," by
Peter Dale Scott.
6. Biowarfare Research in University Laboratories -- ISTHMUS,
10/9/87, "Biowarfare and the UW," by Richard Jannaccio; THE PROGRESSIVE,
11/16/87, "Poisons from the Pentagon," by Seth Shulman; WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 9/17/86, "Military Science," by Bill Richards and Tim Carrington.
7. Biased Press Coverage of Arias Peace Plan -- SAN FRANCISCO BAY
GUARDIAN, 1/6/88, "On Central America, U.S. Dailies Parrot Reagan Line," by
Jeff Gillenkirk; EXTRA!, 8/87, "Media Put Reagan Spin on Arias Plan," by
Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee.
8. Dumping Our Toxic Wastes on the Third World -- THE NATION,
10/3/87, "The Export of U.S. Toxic Wastes," by Andrew Porterfield and David
Weir.
9. The Censored Report of Torture in El Salvador -- THE NATION,
2/21/87, "After the Press Bus Left," and THE NATION, 11/14/87, "The Press
and the Plan," both by Alexander Cockburn; SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER,
11/14/86, "In Prison, Salvador rights panel works on," by Ron Ridenhour;
MARIN INTERFAITH TASK FORCE ON CENTRAL AMERICA, 7/2/87, by Liz Erringer.
10. Project Galileo Shuttle To Carry Lethal Plutonium -- THE NATION,
1/23/88, "The Space Probe's Lethal Cargo," by Karl Grossman.