2008 Woodie Awards
Project Censored celebrates 30 years
Nick Ramirez, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/22/06 Section: News
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"Stories in the alternative press, and not the mass media, lead to the theory that a certain amount of information is censored - information that is not reaching the public," Jensen said. "Censorship is the result of monopolization. It is important for people to know that."
Planning for the 30-year anniversary began in November of last year, and the event was co-sponsored by Students for Democracy, an organization at SSU.
In his speech at the Community Center, Jensen described the trials of running the project in its early days.
"That first year I had a hard sell to persuade people to participate as judges," Jensen said. "After all, this was a new media effort conducted by some unknown assistant professor of sociology at some unknown college called Sonoma State located somewhere out there in Northern California."
Jensen received everything from praise from reputable journalists like I.F. Stone to death threats.
"In the mid-eighties, I received a letter, date marked from Phoenix, Arizona, that threatened to murder me and "other KGB pay rolled pigs" like me. I had received a number of threats over the years that I simply ignored because they didn't seem authentic," Jensen said. "But there was something about this one that bothered me."
The FBI conducted an investigation, and discovered that an identical letter had been sent from Phoenix to the White House.
Morgan Spurlock was the keynote speaker of the event, and unveiled his plans to produce a video with Project Censored about the top 25 most censored news stories.
"Project Censored is a vanguard and a rebirth of citizen journalism," Spurlock said. "Citizen journalists call back to the TV and tell it when it's wrong. Citizen journalists speak up when private interests threaten the public good. Citizen journalists believe in their communities, and they believe in this country. Citizen journalism is not an ideal to be held to the future, citizen journalism is now."
"Project Censored challenges me to do whatever small thing I can do to help our democracy, to further public good. What my company has done with Project Censored is that we have come together, and we're now in process of putting together a film project where we're going to make a movie about the top 25-censored stories. At the end of every year, you have those countdown shows, and so what I really want to present to the rest of the world is the most spectacular, magnificent, anti-countdown-countdown show that you've ever seen."
Peter Phillips, a professor of sociology, has directed Project Censored since 1996. It is comprised of students, interns, volunteers, and faculty who research, write, speak, and organize public events about news stories not covered in the mainstream media.
According to Phillips, Spurlock has approached HBO for funding, but HBO has declined. Spurlock has also approached CNN.
"He seems real committed," Phillips said.
Phillips described how quickly the years have gone by while directing Project Censored, and the driving force behind the program.
"The last 10 years have just flown. It's been very exciting, very interesting," he said.
Phillips encourages all students, activists, and journalists to participate in reporting stories society needs to know. He said that the corporate media treats us like mushrooms - we grow up in the dark and they feed us manure.
"Having an independent media that addresses the wrongs, puts a transparent face on government, and is a critical reviewer of what the powerful are doing is vital to what Morgan was saying, is what Carl's reasons are for founding the project, and my reasons for staying so active and involved," he said. "We have put a human face on the powerful, and hold them accountable for the decisions they make that have negative impacts on people on all over the world."
President of Students for Democracy and Project Censored intern Joani Wallent was the coordinator of the event."I think everything went smoothly," Wallent said. "It was the very first time I ever did something like that."
Food preparation was one of the greatest challenges, Wallent said, and the event was a perfect opportunity for hands-on experience in what she is hopeful of making a career out of.
"People were ordering food before we even had the food prepared," she said. "I called 60 different places at least - groceries, farms, wholesale distributors - all in the community."
According to Jensen, Project Censored is growing as censorship in the mass media is on the rise. Efforts are being made to emulate Project Censored around the globe, including Canada, England, and Australia.
"SSU is the only university in the country that has a project like this," he said. "In Peter's hands, it has gone beautifully."
The next big event for Project Censored is the Award's Ceremony scheduled in October.