Project Censored - the news you did not see on TV
CategoriesNot all news are created equal. Some will be reported, others will not. This slant in official media reporting has stimulated a reaction: Project Censored.
The Mission of Project Censored is to educate people about the role of independent journalism in a democratic society and to tell The News That Didn't Make the News and why.
Project Censored is a media research group out of Sonoma State University 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.
The group has published its findings every year since 1994 - summaries of the last four years are available on their site. If you want to know what you missed in last year's news, you can find summaries of the Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002-2003 here.
The suppressed stories are discussed in greater detail in the printed publications, which can be ordered from the Sonoma Team's website.
Here is a story on their current Newsflash which I liked - of course, it's about Health Supreme's thematic area:
Public Relations and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Title: “Disease Mongering”
By: Bob Burton and Andy Rowell
Source: PR Watch, First Quarter 2003
Researched by Erin CossenThe pharmaceutical industry spends twice as much on public relations, marketing, and administration as it does on drug research and development. During 2000 more than $13.2 billion was spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the U.S. Half of global legal drug sales occur in the United States alone. Drug companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Astra Zeneca hire specialist “healthcare” PR companies to help create profits. The leading healthcare PR companies in the U.S. are Edelman, Ruder Finn and Chandler Chicco Agency. These groups are responsible for persuading doctors and patients to use the drug companies’ products. Patient groups are wooed to assist with “disease awareness campaigns.” They also organize medical conferences to provide a platform for well trained “product champions” to announce promising results of drug research. PR firms aim to create “buzz” about the new drug in order to increased sales. Chandler Chicco Agency had much success with this when they created the buzz: over Pfizer’s $1 billion-a-year impotence drug, Viagra.
Drug company advertising tends to overemphasize the benefits of medication. Other strategies for dealing with problems are ignored. Diseases are created to create new markets for new drugs. Patient groups are created to boost a new drug that is about to emerge from the drug company’s “pipeline.” An investigation by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that it is commonplace practice for articles to be “ghostwritten” by PR firms for well-respected medical researchers. This creates a market for new products by creating dissatisfaction with existing products.
And another story on the connection between mercury and autism:Do Childhood Vaccines Cause More Harm than Good?
Title: "Childhood Vaccines: More Harm Than Good?"
By: Author Unknown
Source: Conscious Choice, June 2003
Researched by: Kelly BullockMany childhood vaccines are known to contain excessive amounts of mercury. Mercury contribute to neurological development disorders in children. Autism, speech disorders and heart disease are among those that are thought to be linked to the mercury in the thimerosal- contained in vaccines. Many vaccines are said to exceed Federal Safety Guidelines for the amount of mercury to be orally ingested. Autism rates grew 800% during the 80’s and 90’s and there are members of the scientific community that are highly skeptical that thimerosal vaccines are associated with the disorders.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday January 23 2004
updated on Saturday September 24 2005URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2004/01/23/project_censored_the_news_you_did_not_see_on_tv.htm
