“The year 2018 marks a new chapter in the story of how the oligarchs try to kill the alternative press and adversarial reporting. Media titans and politicians are finding new ways to censor independent journalism on virtually every web plat- form under the banner of combating ‘fake news’ and ‘foreign propaganda.’ For truth-tellers and researchers facing this new assault, Project Censored and its annual book represent a vitally important tool for highlighting the crucial issues to know and struggles to follow, an essential guide for truth in a ‘post-truth’ society.” —Abby Martin, The Empire Files, from the foreword to Censored 2019 “Today’s fake news becomes tomorrow’s fake history. Since 1976, Project Censored has been both calling out media propaganda and censorship as well as highlighting the best of the independent press. If journalism is the rough draft of history, this book goes a long way to getting the record right the first time, stopping fake news in its tracks and ensuring that we have fewer Untold Histories in the future.” —Peter Kuznick and Oliver Stone, co-authors of The Untold History of the United States book and documentary series PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS CENSORED VOLUMES “A crucial contribution to the hope for a more just and democratic society.” —Noam Chomsky “Project Censored is a national treasure in American life, serving to remind us of how crucial it is to be vigilant about making the truth heard in the public sphere . Censored gives new meaning to the notion that critical citizens are at the core of a strong democracy and that informed resistance is not an option but a necessity.” —Henry A. Giroux, author of American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism “Project Censored brings to light some of the most important stories of the year that you never saw or heard about. This is your chance to find out what got buried.” —Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great Amer- ican School System “As trivia, celebrity gossip, blow-by-blow descriptions of the latest foibles of the political elites, entertainment, and corporate-approved stories replace journalism, real news happens increasingly on the fringes, where it is more easily marginalized and ignored. Project Censored rescues the most impor- tant stories you should have read but probably never saw from oblivion.” —Chris Hedges, bestselling author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning and Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle “The systematic exposure of censored stories by Project Censored has been an important contribution.” —Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States “Project Censored is a lifeline to the world’s most urgent and significant sto- ries. The Project’s list of the top stories that get very little mainstream media traction should in fact drive the reporting agendas of every major news outlet.” —Naomi Wolf, author of the bestselling books The Beauty Myth; The End of America; and Give Me Liberty “[Project Censored] is a clarion call for truth telling.” —Daniel Ellsberg, The Pentagon Papers “Project Censored . has evolved into a deep, wide, and utterly engrossing exercise to unmask censorship, self-censorship, and propaganda in the mass media.” —Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, lawyer, and author “[Project Censored’s] efforts to continue globalizing their reporting network could not be more timely or necessary.” —Kristina Borjesson, award-winning freelance journalist “Most journalists in the United States believe the press here is free. That grand illusion only helps obscure the fact that, by and large, the US corporate press does not report what’s really going on, while tuning out, or laughing off, all those who try to do just that. Americans—now more than ever—need those outlets that do labor to report some truth. Project Censored is not just among the bravest, smartest, and most rigorous of those outlets, but the only one that’s wholly focused on those stories that the corporate press ignores, downplays, and/or distorts.”—Mark Crispin Miller, author, professor of media ecology, New York University “Project Censored continues to do the work they’ve been persistently pursuing since 1976: Exposing the secrets that those in power would prefer to keep hidden and the corruption that should be scandalous, but isn’t, because the corporate media won’t cover it.” —David Rovics, musician and activist “As Project Censored’s publisher, I’ve been amazed at the resilience and joy- fulness this organization has shown, year after year. Forever young, and ever more important, Project Censored makes us all better-informed and more empowered as citizens.” —Dan Simon, Seven Stories Press “Project Censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting outlets are practicing thor- ough and ethical journalism.” —Walter Cronkite, anchor, CBS Evening News, 1962–1981 “One of the most significant media research projects in the country.” —I.F. Stone, American muckraker CENSORED 2019 FIGHTING THE FAKE NEWS INVASION The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2017–18 Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth with Project Censored Foreword by Abby Martin Cartoons by Khalil Bendib Seven Stories Press New York • Oakland • London Copyright © 2018 by Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth Foreword © 2018 by Abby Martin A Seven Stories Press First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or other- wise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Seven Stories Press 140 Watts Street New York, NY 10013 www.sevenstories.com ISBN 978-1-60980-869-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-60980-870-9 (electronic) ISSN 1074-5998 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Book design by Jon Gilbert Printed in the USA dedicated to Thomas Field (1963–2018) An inspiring student and a natural teacher, Tom loved independent journalism. His knowledge and wit enriched recent Censored volumes. He embodied the spirit of Project Censored. Contents FOREWORD: The Post-Truth Dilemma by Abby Martin ................................ 11 INTRODUCTION: by Andy Lee Roth and Mickey Huff ....................................17 CHAPTER 1: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2017–18 Compiled and edited by Andy Lee Roth ..........................................................37 Introduction .................................................................................................37 Note on Research and Evaluation of Censored News Stories .....................41 1. Global Decline in Rule of Law as Basic Human Rights Diminish ..............43 2. “Open-Source” Intelligence Secrets Sold to Highest Bidders .............45 3. World’s Richest One Percent Continue to Become Wealthier ........... 47 4. How Big Wireless Convinced Us Cell Phones and Wi-Fi are Safe .... 48 5. Washington Post Bans Employees from Using Social Media to Criticize Sponsors .......................................................52 6. Russiagate: Two-Headed Monster of Propaganda and Censorship ....54 7. Regenerative Agriculture as “Next Stage” of Civilization ....................57 8. Congress Passes Intrusive Data Sharing Law under Cover of Spending Bill ...........................................................................58 9. Indigenous Communities around World Helping to Win Legal Rights of Nature ...............................................60 10. FBI Racially Profiling “Black Identity Extremists” ............................. 63 11. US Air Force Seeks to Control Seventy Percent of Nevada’s Desert National Wildlife Refuge .......................................................... 65 12. ICE Intends to Destroy Records of Inhumane Treatment of Immigrants ..................................................................... 67 13. The Limits of Negative News and Importance of Constructive Media ...............................................................................68 14. FBI Paid Geek Squad Employees as “Confidential Human Source” Informants ................................................................ 70 15. Digital Justice: Internet Co-ops Resist Net Neutrality Rollbacks ........71 16. $21 Trillion in Unaccounted-for Government Spending from 1998 to 2015 ................................................................73 17. “Model” Mississippi Curriculum Omits Civil Rights Movement from School Textbooks .......................................................75 7 18. Adoption Agencies a Gateway for Child Exploitation..........................77 19. People Bussed across US to Cut Cities’ Homeless Populations ........ 78 20. Extravagant Hospital Waste of Unused Medical Supplies .......................81 21. Parkland Shooter’s JROTC Connections Spotlight Militarization of Schools ...................................................................... 82 22. Big Pharma’s Biostitutes: Corporate Media Ignore Root Cause of Opioid Crisis .................................................................86 23. New Restrictions on Prisoners’ First Amendment Rights .................89 24. More Than 80,000 Stolen Guns Worsen Crime in Florida ................91 25. Sheriffs Using Iris Recognition Technology along US–Mexico Border ..................................................................... 93 CHAPTER 2: Blurred Lines and Clickbait: The Sh*thole that is Junk Food News by Susan Rahman and Isabelle Snow, with Tonatiuh Beltran, Tate Dobbins, Jacqueline Gibbons, Maria Granados, Christina