I watch the BBC 11 PM World News, rather than the local Northeast Ohio news, because I want an international perspective on affairs in America and world-wide. To learn what is happening in Northeast Ohio, I use the Plain Dealer as one frame of reference but depend on personal research, involvement in the community and connectedness through networks and alternative media, increasingly found through the Internet, to know what is happening in the region. The main reason I find it necessary to look outside the US mainstream for news is well documented by a project out of Sonoma State University called Project Censored [1], "which tracks the news published in independent journals and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles an annual list of 25 news stories of social significance that have been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country's major national news media." Below is their list of stories over-looked and/or self-censored by the country's major national news media in 2007 - how does this fit with your observations on the world as reported by mainstream media in NEO and America?
Top 25 Censored news stories of 2007
#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media [2]
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran [3]
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger [4]
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US [5]
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo [6]
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy [7]
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq [8]
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act [9]
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall [10]
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians [11]
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed [12]
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines [13]
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup [14]
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US [15]
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner [16]
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court [17]
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda [18]
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story [19]
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever [20]
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem [21]
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers [22]
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed [23]
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe [24]
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year [25]
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region [26]
Links:
[1] http://www.projectcensored.org/
[2] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#1
[3] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#2
[4] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#3
[5] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#4
[6] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#5
[7] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#6
[8] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#7
[9] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#8
[10] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#9
[11] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#10
[12] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#11
[13] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#12
[14] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#13
[15] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#14
[16] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#15
[17] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#16
[18] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#17
[19] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#18
[20] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#19
[21] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#20
[22] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#21
[23] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#22
[24] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#23
[25] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#24
[26] http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#25
[27] http://66.228.45.157/realneo-topsoil-technology-optimization-platform-for-social-organization-innovation-and-learning/project-censored-exposed-univer
[28] http://66.228.45.157/realneo-topsoil-technology-optimization-platform-for-social-organization-innovation-and-learning/re-approaching-nearness-online-