PROJECT CENSORED, founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen at Sonoma State University, has as its principal objective the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights, including freedom of information. In 2008, Project Censored received the PEN/Oakland Literary Censorship Award. Most recently, Project Censored received the 2014 Pillar Award in Journalism and New Media, given annually to persons of conscience, conviction, and achievement who stand up for what’s right and what’s true in the face of corporate and political intimidation. For more information, visit www.projectcensored.org.
Two recent publications explore the controversial and important issue of censorship in the press and in our schools and libraries. Phillips, editor of Censored 2003, is director of Project Censored, an investigative project conducted out of Sonoma State University studying freedom of information and the media. The project's network of students, faculty, and community evaluators annually assesses and ranks the top 25 news stories not adequately covered by the mainstream press in the preceding year. Stories featured in this year's publication examine controversial issues such as NAFTA, U.S. foreign policy, corporate malfeasance, labor reform, and public health. The source of the press coverage, a brief synopsis of the story, and an analysis of the reporting are included, and instructive essays contributed by scholars and writers examine such topics as grass-roots news and corporate dominance of the media. Two appendixes include a comprehensive directory of independent press publications and a guide to media activist organizations. A fascinating and disturbing look at our nation's media, this work is authoritative, well organized, and exhaustively documented. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries. In the revised and expanded edition of Banned in the U.S.A., Foerstel gives an enlightening analysis of censorship in U.S. schools and public libraries. Provided is a survey of major book-banning incidents in the United States, accessible background material on the legal history of book banning, new and updated interviews with banned writers, and a synopsis of the 50 most frequently challenged books from the period 1996-2000. A selected bibliography of works about censorship is also included. Recommended for school and public libraries that don't own the first edition or need information on challenges after 1996, the only area in which this book was expanded.
Katherine E. Merrill, Rochester P.L., NY
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