Every year, Project Censored, a group of academics out of Sonoma State
University, work to compile lists of important news stories which do not get
much news coverage, and at the year's end, a Project Censored panel chooses
the 25 "most censored" stories of the year, and then works to get the word
out about the top 10. In their own words: "The primary objective of Project
Censored is to explore and publicize the extent of censorship in our society
by locating stories about significant issues of which the public should be
aware, but is not, for one reason or another." The focus of course, is on
how censorship need not be done by the government, as is the popular
definition, but by private interests.
I am going to present some summaries of the top 10 stories here. I will
preface this a bit by saying that the selection of these stories is
subjective. Why would one of these be more "important" than the thousands
of other stories which weren't covered? I have also noticed over the years
that Project Censored has a bias towards environmental news. There's
nothing wrong with that, it's just an observation.
Project Censored's Top 10 Censored News Stories of 1998:
1) "Secret International Trade Agreement Undermines the Sovereignty of Nations"
Also known as the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). This is a
treaty which would give investors in foreign countries extensive rights,
superseding those of the citizens of that country. Basically, if a foreign
investor's expected profit is somehow prevented by activities within that
country, that investor (which can be a corporation) can sue that country's
government for damages. What activities "violate" investor rights under the
MAI? Laws which protect the environment, labor rights, human rights, or
health standards which get in the way of profits (e.g. if a nation passes
laws increasing the minimum wage, that could damage an investor's profits,
and that investor could theoretically sue for damages), as well as a host of
other events or actions. The MAI has been negotiated largely in secret, and
has received little to no press coverage (except in Canada). Talks are
currently stalled, but will probably continue soon through the World Trade
Organization (WTO). For more information, simply do a search on the Web for
MAI, and I imagine you have a wealth of information at your fingertips.
2) "Chemical Corporations Profit Off Breast Cancer"
This story is about Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. Zeneca manufactures tamoxifen,
a drug which it got the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
approve as a preventive treatment for women at high risk of developing
breast cancer. However, the World Health Organization's International
Agency for Research on Cancer believes that tamoxifen is a "probable human
carcinogen."
The second part of the story is more questionable to me. Zeneca was one of
the founders and is currently a "controlling sponsor" of Breast Cancer
Awareness Month (BCAM). Zeneca has veto power over what information, and
promotional materials are made available during BCAM. That information has
always been solely about early detection and treatment, not about
prevention, which some people are now seeing as suspicious; a pharmaceutical
company would probably prefer that people buy their cancer treatment drugs
than have people successfully avoid getting cancer. But if Zeneca has now
released tamoxifen, then one might expect BCAM information to tell about
this new preventative treatment.
3) "Monsanto's Genetically Modified Seeds Threaten World Production"
Monsanto, an evil biotech corporation that has been covered frequently here
in NW, has put a good deal of its resources into attempts to control the
world market on seeds. Monsanto offers a number of genetically altered
seeds for sale. However, after selling a batch of these seeds to a farmer,
the farmer could, as farmers usually do, save a portion of the seeds from
the new crops and use those to grow the next year's harvest. But then
Monsanto would only make one sale. They want the farmers to buy from their
company again and again and again. So Monsanto has developed "terminator"
seeds, which produce crops whose seeds are infertile, and cannot grow.
This prevents farmers from cross-breeding plants to create better harvests,
which could lead to a decrease in agricultural productivity. Many also fear
that those genes responsible for "termination" could possible be transferred
to other plants via cross-pollination. If that happens, other species of
plants could die out because they could not reproduce.
The "censored" stories also point out a possible reason why this
questionable technology may be approved in the US: the USDA stands to make a
5% royalty on all agricultural biotechnology sales.
4) "Recycled Radioactive Metals May Be in Your Home"
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and
the radioactive metal processing industry are pushing for changes to
existing regulations about metals which have been contaminated by radiation.
These metals are then recycled and used in other products, "from knives and
forks and belt buckles to zippers, eyeglasses, dental fillings and IUDs."
By NRC estimates, relaxing the regulations could lead to an additional
100,000 cancer fatalities in the US (I presume this is a yearly figure, but
the article does not specify). And while US regulatory changes are pending,
American business is shipping tons of radioactive scrap metal into Asia,
often exceeding the radioactive safety standards set by those countries.
5) "U.S. Weapons of Mass Destruction Linked the Deaths of Half a Million
Children"
This one is painfully ironic. A US Senate commission in 1994 found that
American businesses shipped microorganisms to Iraq in the mid-to-late 80s
that were used in Iraq's biological and chemical weapons programs. Said the
commission: "It was later learned that these microorganisms exported by the
United States were identical to those the United Nations inspectors found
and removed from the Iraqi biological warfare program." So the current
attacks on Iraq and long-standing search for their weapons of mass
destruction, were at least in part given to Iraq by US businesses.
6) "United States Nuclear Program Subverts UN's 'Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty'"
The United States continues to test nuclear weapons, which would seem to
violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but the US claims that
these tests are "consistent with the spirit and letter of the CTBT." This
is because the tests do not maintain a chain reaction (they call it
"subcritical," but I admit, I'm not sure what that means). Other nations
disagree with these claims, and feel that subcritical tests by the US could
encourage other countries to renew full-scale nuclear testing. In addition,
in 1993 President Clinton budgeted $45 billion over ten years to create new
nuclear research facilities, even though the CTBT prohibits "qualitative
improvement of nuclear weapons."
7) "Gene Transfers Linked to Dangerous New Diseases"
This story claims that biotechnology research is facilitating the passage of
genes between species that normally could not interbreed; specifically, that
some strains of bacteria are receiving genes from other organisms which are
making those bacteria more resistant to antibiotics and other drugs. The
articles allege that this type of horizontal gene transfer may have been
responsible for a cholera outbreak in India in 1992, and a streptococcus
outbreak in Tayside in 1993. Project Censored did not offer details in
their report, and therefore I can't be sure of its reliability.
8) "No Mercy for Women as Catholic Hospital Mergers Threaten Reproductive
Rights"
A large number of privately-run hospitals are merging with Roman Catholic
Church medical facilities, which can lead those hospitals to change their
policies to accommodate the religious beliefs of their new partners. In
1996 alone, 600 such mergers took place in the US. The Roman Catholic
Church is now the largest private health care provider in the United States.
These partnerships threaten a number of medical practices which are opposed
by the church: abortions, sterilizations, birth control, assisted suicide,
experimentation on fetal tissue, and in vitro fertilization. In some
communities, for example, no hospital will provide birth control or family
planning counseling.
9) "US Tax Dollars Support Death Squads in Chiapas"
Chiapas, Mexico, home to a number of indigenous poor and the famous
Zapatista rebels, has suffered attacks by various paramilitary groups. One
of these groups is the Mexican Army Airborne Special Forces Group (GAFE),
which was trained by US Special Forces. While many Mexican soldiers are
trained by the US to supposedly fight drug-trafficking (some at the School
of the Americas), others argue that these soldiers are being used to wage a
war on the citizens of Chiapas. Of the $21 million spent by the US to help
Mexico fight "the drug war," $12 million was spent on training Mexican
military and paramilitary.
10) "What Price Cheap Oil? Environmental Activists Gunned Down on Chevron
Oil Facility in Nigeria"
A number of student activists in Nigeria peacefully demonstrated at a
Chevron barge, eventually occupying it. They were protesting the extreme
pollution and environmental damage that Chevron's oil extraction process was
causing in the Niger river delta. The activists agreed to leave the barge
on May 28, a date on which they had now been promised they could meet with
Chevron's managing director. Instead, on May 28, Chevron employees
helicoptered in Nigerian National soldiers, who attacked the students. Two
students were killed and several others were hurt.
Summaries of the remaining 15 stories can be found on Project Censored's
website at www.sonoma.edu/projectcensored , or in more detail in the 1999
Project Censored Yearbook.
7) "Gene Transfers Linked to Dangerous New Diseases"
This story claims that biotechnology research is facilitating the passage of
genes between species that normally could not interbreed; specifically, that
some strains of bacteria are receiving genes from other organisms which are
making those bacteria more resistant to antibiotics and other drugs. The
articles allege that this type of horizontal gene transfer may have been
responsible for a cholera outbreak in India in 1992, and a streptococcus
outbreak in Tayside in 1993. Project Censored did not offer details in
their report, and therefore I can't be sure of its reliability.
8) "No Mercy for Women as Catholic Hospital Mergers Threaten Reproductive
Rights"
A large number of privately-run hospitals are merging with Roman Catholic
Church medical facilities, which can lead those hospitals to change their
policies to accommodate the religious beliefs of their new partners. In
1996 alone, 600 such mergers took place in the US. The Roman Catholic
Church is now the largest private health care provider in the United States.
These partnerships threaten a number of medical practices which are opposed
by the church: abortions, sterilizations, birth control, assisted suicide,
experimentation on fetal tissue, and in vitro fertilization. In some
communities, for example, no hospital will provide birth control or family
planning counseling.
9) "US Tax Dollars Support Death Squads in Chiapas"
Chiapas, Mexico, home to a number of indigenous poor and the famous
Zapatista rebels, has suffered attacks by various paramilitary groups. One
of these groups is the Mexican Army Airborne Special Forces Group (GAFE),
which was trained by US Special Forces. While many Mexican soldiers are
trained by the US to supposedly fight drug-trafficking (some at the School
of the Americas), others argue that these soldiers are being used to wage a
war on the citizens of Chiapas. Of the $21 million spent by the US to help
Mexico fight "the drug war," $12 million was spent on training Mexican
military and paramilitary.
10) "What Price Cheap Oil? Environmental Activists Gunned Down on Chevron
Oil Facility in Nigeria"
A number of student activists in Nigeria peacefully demonstrated at a
Chevron barge, eventually occupying it. They were protesting the extreme
pollution and environmental damage that Chevron's oil extraction process was
causing in the Niger river delta. The activists agreed to leave the barge
on May 28, a date on which they had now been promised they could meet with
Chevron's managing director. Instead, on May 28, Chevron employees
helicoptered in Nigerian National soldiers, who attacked the students. Two
students were killed and several others were hurt.
Summaries of the remaining 15 stories can be found on Project Censored's
website at www.sonoma.edu/projectcensored , or in more detail in the 1999
Project Censored Yearbook.
SENT IN BY NEWSWATCH
:MAY:16:1999....NEXT PART OF WALK WAY,UNDER WAY
Work on next part of the clyde walkway and cycle way has started
the route will be joined to the present 8km path which takes you
from Lanark to Crossford.The new part will take the you from crossford
passed Dalserf and upto the Garrion bridge ,just south of Law
village.Its not know at present if it will then cross the clyde and
continue north on the other side up the water bridge and cross
back again.The problem is if the path stays on the bank which it is on
just now and crosses the A71 it will be in the path of the new Garrion
bridge which is to be built right next to the old one.:MAY11:1999
For those in the San Francisco Bay Area (apologies to everyone else): THIS FRIDAY Headwaters Forest book reading and slideshow with author Joan Dunning Friday, May 14 -- 8 to 9:30pm Printer's Inc. Bookstore & Cafe 301 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA Author Joan Dunning reads from her compelling personal account, "From the Redwood Forest: Ancient Trees and the Bottom Line -- A Headwaters Journey." Includes a slideshow. "From the Redwood Forest" is a warm first-person account of a year-and-a-half spent exploring, behind-the-headlines, one of the most important and most publicized environmental battles of our time. Bring your copy and Joan will be glad to sign it. And if you don't already own it, why not? It's a must-read for anyone interested in Headwaters. Presented by Bay Area Action. For more information call 650-321-1994. ------------------------------------------------------------ Distributed by Bay Area Action <www.baaction.org>.
HERE TO SEND 
