(DRAFT -- SSU NEWS RELEASE -- CJ -- 5/17/87)
May 21, 1987 # Contact: Barbara Foote'
(EDITOR'S NOTE: A NATIONAL PANEL OF MEDIA EXPERTS ANNUALLY SELECTS THE TOP TEN UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF THE YEAR)
PERSONAL HARASSMENT AND ADMINISTRATION CENSORSHIP TOP UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF 1986
ROHNERT PARK -- The official harassment of U.S. citizens opposed to the Reagan administration's Central America policies topped the list of 25 overlooked news stories of 1986 according to a national panel of media experts.
The second most undercovered story of the year, cited by Project Censored, warned of the growth of information control in the United States including censorship, disinformation, and a new, broader classification category.
Now in its 11th 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 1986 as announced by project director Carl Jensen, professor of communication studies at Sonoma State University:
1.Criticizing Central America Policies Can Be Dangerous. Political opponents of the Reagan administration's Central America policies were the targets of mysterious break-ins, Internal Revenue Service audits, and FBI surveillance and interrogation. Congressman Don Edwards (D-CA), a former FBI
agent, warned that the administration may be "using the various independent agencies of the United States government for their political purposes."
2.Official Information Control . The American Library Association documented Reagan administration efforts to eliminate, restrict, and privatize government documents; in 1986 the government officially launched a new "disinformation" program which permits it to release deliberately false, incomplete, and misleading information; it also developed a new category of "sensitive information" which restricts public access to a broad range of previously unclassified data.
3.Personal Privacy Lost.In 1986 the FBI was given extra-ordinary powers to look into private financial and telephonic files of American citizens "suspected of being in the employ of a foreign power." The Intelligence Authorization Bill also permits the FBI to share such information with any other government agency, such as the IRS, which has a relevant interest in it.
4.CIA Paid for Pro Contra Media Coverage. Edgar Chamorro, former head of contra communications in Central America, testified that "approximately 15 Honduran journalists and broadcasters were on the CIA payroll" and that contra influence extended to every major Honduran newspaper and television station. Carlos Morales, a Costa Rican professor of journalism, reported that at least eight Costa Rican journalists, including three "top editors," received monthly payments from the CIA.
5.President Reagan and the World Anti-Communist League. According to investigators, the World Anti-Communist League (WACL), an international right-wing group, is so extreme that the John Birch Society has shunned it and advises its members to do likewise. Yet President Reagan sent its U.S. leader, retired U.S. Major General John Singlaub, a letter congratulating the WACL on its "leadership role" and "best wishes for every future success."
6.Nerve Gas Production in Residential Areas. Although the military has been under orders from Congress since 1984 to dispose of nerve gases by 1994, nerve gases are currently being manufactured and tested in 46 U.S. communities, in 26 states across the country, usually without the knowledge of the local residents.
7.Contragate: The Untold Story. Affidavits submitted in a $17 million lawsuit filed last year by the Christic Institute reveal that for a quarter of a century, a secret team of official and retired U.S. military and CIA officials has trafficked in drugs, assassinated political enemies, stolen from the U.S. government, armed terrorists, and subverted the will of Congress and the public with hundreds of millions of drug dollars at their disposal. Defendants in the suit include retired Major Generals Richard Secord and John Singlaub, and businessman Albert Hakim.
8.Federal Radiation Tests on Americans. Human radiation tests, reminiscent of the heinous experiments conducted by the Nazis and Japanese during World War II, were conducted from the mid-1940's until the 1970's by official U.S. federal agencies and prestigious academic and medical institutions; they were revealed last October.
9.Veterans' Administration Destroys Evidence. In August, 1986, the Veterans' Administration was caught shredding thousands of case records of contested radiation injury claims filed by military personnel who had been exposed to nuclear radiation since the 1940's.
10.The Lethal Shuttle: Plutonium Payload Scheduled. The space shuttle scheduled to follow the tragic Challenger launch last year would have carried 46.7 pounds of toxic plutonium-238. A leading scientist warned that the plutonium, if dispersed in fine pieces by an exlosion, would release more plutonium radioactivity than the combined fallout from all nuclear weapons tests of the U.S., the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Despite the global risks involved, NASA plans to go ahead with plutonium-fueled space probes when shuttle missions start again.
The other 15 under-reported stories of 1986 were: The Unknown War in West Papua, The Forgotten War in El Salvador, Senator Jesse Helms' Military Coup in Argentina, US Air Force Toxic Waste Scandal In Oklahoma City, Leonard Peltier: America's Unknown Political Prisoner, Marion Prison: The Longest Continual Lockdown in U.S. Prison History, The Mighty Oak Nuclear Test Accident Cover-up, The Unheralded Breakthrough in Animal Cloning, Feldene: The Deadly Anti-inflammatory Drug, The State of California and Bank of America Conspiracy to Hide a Discrimination Suit Settlement, The Ku Klux Klan Connection in the Murders of Black Children In Atlanta, The Plowshares Movement: Americans Jailed for Obeying International Law, CIA Corrupts Academic Community Again, An Immigration Law to Prevent Foreign Performers from Playing in the U.S., George Bush Applies Political Pressure for Friend's Hydroelectric Project.
PROJECT CENSORED JUDGES The panel of jurors who selected the top ten stories were: Dr. Donna Allen, editor and publisher 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, and writer on contemporary affairs; Dr. Everette E. Dennis, Executive Director, Gannett Center for Media Studies, Columbia University; Dr. George Gerbner, Dean, Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania; Charlayne Hunter-Gault, national correspondent, MacNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR; Nicholas Johnson, public lecturer, nationally syndicated columnist and professor of law; Charles L. Klotzer, editor and publisher, THE ST. LOUIS JOURNALISM REVIEW; Brad Knickerbocker, national news editor, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR; Jessica Mitford, writer and lecturer; Dr. Jack L. Nelson, Dean, School of Education, San Jose State University, California; Dr. Herbert I. Schiller, Professor of Communication, University of California, San Diego.
Sonoma State University student researchers participating in the nationwide research effort were Peggy Sue Alberhasky, Sarah Alcorn, Larry Crowell, Daren Decker, Dave Hoffman, Mike Jasper, Karen Kitchens, Tom Montan, Laura Moore, Nancy Neilson, Bebe O'Brien, and Bruce Schwank. Kathy Wolff, a project researcher in 1986, was assistant project director.
Dr. Jensen, who originated the media research project in 1976, said "The most serious warning in this year's results is the administration's systematic assault on our free flow of information. The American Library Association has published a 33-page document which lists page after page of specific efforts by the Reagan administration to restrict government information. Recently, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press issued a summary of actions by the Reagan administration to restrict public and media access to government information which includes 135 such actions. The Reagan administration's efforts at information control are serious and deserve as least as much media attention as that given the peccadillos of Gary Hart and Jim Bakker."
Anyone interested in nominating a 1987 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.
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(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 1986:
1.Criticizing Central America Policies -- KRON-TV Target 4, San Francisco, 2/18-20/87, Sylvia Chase, Jonathan Dann; Center for Investigative Reporting, Angus Mackenzie.
2.Official Information Control -- American Library Association, Washington Office, "Less Access to Less Information By and About the U.S. Government: 2," 12/86, by Anne A. Heanue.
3.Personal Privacy Lost -- THE NATIONAL REPORTER, Fall/Winter 1986, "News Not In The News: Reach Out and Crush Someone," by Don Goldberg.
4.CIA Paid For Pro Contra Media Coverage -- COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, March/April 1987, "Contra coverage -- paid for by the CIA," by Martha Honey.
5.The World Anti-Communist League -- INSIDE THE LEAGUE, Dodd, Mead, 1986, by Scott and Jon Lee Anderson, reprinted in ST. LOUIS JOURNALISM REVIEW; BRIARPATCH, November, 1986, "In League with The Devil: The World Anti-Communist League," by George Martin Manz; UTNE READER, August 1986, "Moonies, Loonies, and Ronnie," by Eric Selbin.
6.Nerve Gas Production in Residential Areas -- RECON, Winter 1987, "Nerve Gas in Residential Areas," by Chris Robinson.
7.Contragate: The Untold Story -- THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN, 12/3/86+, "Contragate: The Costa Rica Connection," by Michael Emery.
8.Radiation Tests -- THE NEW YORK TIMES, 10/24/86, "Volunteers Around U.S. Submitted to Radiation," p A20.
9.Veterans' Administration Destroys Evidence -- VVA VETERAN, November 1986, "Scandal Hints Plague VA," and January 1987, "The Scandal Deepens," by Mark Perry.
10.The Lethal Shuttle -- Plutonium Payload -- THE NATION, 2/22/86, "The Lethal Shuttle," and 3/15/86, "Plutonium Cover-up?;" COMMON CAUSE, July/August 1986, "Red Tape and Radioactivity," all by Karl Grossman.
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