Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2025


Book Description

Highlighting the year’s most significant independent journalism—including reports on toxic chemicals, climate disinformation, and union victories—Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025 illuminates issues and raises voices that the establishment press have throttled. State of the Free Press 2025 shows how independent journalism can promote civic engagement and reconnect people who have otherwise lost interest in sensational “news” that distracts and polarizes us. Balancing critical analysis with optimistic vision, the book’s diverse contributors champion press freedom and critical media literacy to hold the powerful accountable and promote a more just and inclusive society. State of the Free Press 2025 is a joint production of The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press.




Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2022


Book Description

As the United States grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s living legacy of systemic racism, and partisan threats to the foundations of democracy, the integrity of news and Project Censored's survey of underreported news stories has never been more important. This 2022 edition of Project Censored's State of the Free Press offers a comprehensive survey of the most important but underreported news stories of 2021 and a comparative analysis of the current state of corporate and independent news media, and its effect on democracy. The establishment media sustains a decrepit post-truth era, as examined the lowlight features: "Junk Food News"-frivolous stories that distract the public from actual news-and-"News Abuse"-important stories covered in ways that undermine public understanding. The alternative media provokes a burgeoning critical media literacy age, as evaluated in the highlight feature: "Media Democracy in Action"-relevant stories responsibly reported on by independent organizations. Finally, in an homage to the history of the annual report, the editors reinstate the "Déjà vu News" feature-revisited stories from previous editions. State of the Free Press 2022 endows readers with the critical thinking and media literacy skills required to hold the corporate media to account for distorting or censoring news coverage, and thus, to revitalize our democracy. State of the Free Press 2022 is a joint production of The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press.




Unlearning Liberty


Book Description

For over a generation, shocking cases of censorship at America’s colleges and universities have taught students the wrong lessons about living in a free society. Drawing on a decade of experience battling for freedom of speech on campus, First Amendment lawyer Greg Lukianoff reveals how higher education fails to teach students to become critical thinkers: by stifling open debate, our campuses are supercharging ideological divisions, promoting groupthink, and encouraging an unscholarly certainty about complex issues. Lukianoff walks readers through the life of a modern-day college student, from orientation to the end of freshman year. Through this lens, he describes startling violations of free speech rights: a student in Indiana punished for publicly reading a book, a student in Georgia expelled for a pro-environment collage he posted on Facebook, students at Yale banned from putting an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote on a T shirt, and students across the country corralled into tiny “free speech zones” when they wanted to express their views. But Lukianoff goes further, demonstrating how this culture of censorship is bleeding into the larger society. As he explores public controversies involving Juan Williams, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Larry Summers—even Dave Barry and Jon Stewart—Lukianoff paints a stark picture of our ability as a nation to discuss important issues rationally. Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate illuminates how intolerance for dissent and debate on today’s campus threatens the freedom of every citizen and makes us all just a little bit dumber.




Censored 2020


Book Description

In the midst of Trump's attacks on the media, comes this look at the rigorous, independent reporting of the year's most underreported news stories. While the country's president displays a brazen disregard for the First Amendment and routinely demonizes the press as "the enemy of the people," Censored 2020 looks beyond Donald Trump's dizzying contempt for the truth to clarify the corporate media's complicity in misinforming the American public--while also providing a clear vision of a better future, based on rigorous, trustworthy independent reporting that presents a fuller picture of truth. With a discerning eye, Censored 2020 focuses the public's attention on the most important but underreported news stories of 2018-2019. These stories expose the corporate news media's systemic blind spots while highlighting the crucial role played by independent journalists in providing the kind of news necessary for informed, engaged citizens. The book also examines this year's lowlights in "junk food news" and "news abuse"--further revealing how corporate news often functions as propaganda--as well as highlights of exemplary organizations that champion "Media Democracy in Action." Additional chapters address the importance of constructive journalism, the untold story of Kashmir, news coverage of LGBTQ issues in the Trump era, "fake news" as a Trojan horse for censorship, and online memes as a form of political communication.




United States of Distraction


Book Description

A provocative critique of how manipulation of media gives rise to disinformation, intolerance, and divisiveness, and what can be done to change direction. "Mickey Huff and Nolan Higdon emphasize what we can do today to restore the power of facts, truth, and fair, inclusive journalism as tools for people to keep political and corporate power subordinate to the engaged citizenry and the common good."—Ralph Nader The role of news media in a free society is to investigate, inform, and provide a crucial check on political power. But does it? It's no secret that the goal of corporate-owned media is to increase the profits of the few, not to empower the many. As a result, people are increasingly immersed in an information system structured to reinforce their social biases and market to their buying preferences. Journalism’s essential role has been drastically compromised, and Donald Trump’s repeated claims of "fake news" and framing of the media as “an enemy of the people” have made a bad scenario worse. Written in the spirit of resistance and hope, United States of Distraction offers a clear, concise appraisal of our current situation, and presents readers with action items for how to improve it. Praise for United States of Distraction: "A war of distraction is underway, media is the weapon, and our minds are the battlefield. Higdon and Huff have written a brilliant book of how we’ve gotten to this point, and how to educate ourselves to fight back and win."—Henry A. Giroux, author of American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism "A timely and urgent demand re-asserting the central importance of civic pursuits—not commercialism—in U.S. media and society."—Ralph Nader "Higdon and Huff have produced the best short introduction to the nature of Trump-era journalism and how the 'Post-Truth' media world is inimical to a democratic society that I have seen. The book is provocative and an entertaining read. Best of all, the analysis in United States of Distraction leads to concrete and do-able recommendations for how we can rectify this deplorable situation."—Robert W. McChesney, author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times "The U.S. wouldn't be able to hide its empire in plain sight were it not for the subservient 'free' press. United States of Distraction shows, in chilling detail, America's major media dysfunction—how the gutting of the fourth estate paved the road for fascism and what tools are critical to salvage our democracy."—Abby Martin, The Empire Files "Nolan Higdon and Mickey Huff provides us with a fearless and dangerous text that refuses the post-truth proliferation of fake news, disinformation, and media that serve the interests of the few. This is a vital wake-up call for how the public can protect itself against manipulation and authoritarianism through education and public interest media.”—George Yancy, author of Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America and Professor of Philosophy at Emory University "United States of Distraction challenges our hegemon-media’s ideological mind control and the occupation of human thought. … Huff and Higdon correctly call for mass critical resistance through truth telling by free minds. Power to the people!"—Peter Phillips, author of Giants: The Global Power Elite




A History of ALA Policy on Intellectual Freedom


Book Description

Collecting several key documents and policy statements, this supplement to the ninth edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual traces a history of ALA’s commitment to fighting censorship. An introductory essay by Judith Krug and Candace Morgan, updated by OIF Director Barbara Jones, sketches out an overview of ALA policy on intellectual freedom. An important resource, this volume includes documents which discuss such foundational issues as The Library Bill of RightsProtecting the freedom to readALA’s Code of EthicsHow to respond to challenges and concerns about library resourcesMinors and internet activityMeeting rooms, bulletin boards, and exhibitsCopyrightPrivacy, including the retention of library usage records




Access Controlled


Book Description

Reports on a new generation of Internet controls that establish a new normative terrain in which surveillance and censorship are routine. Internet filtering, censorship of Web content, and online surveillance are increasing in scale, scope, and sophistication around the world, in democratic countries as well as in authoritarian states. The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous “Great Firewall of China” is one of the first national Internet filtering systems. Today the new tools for Internet controls that are emerging go beyond mere denial of information. These new techniques, which aim to normalize (or even legalize) Internet control, include targeted viruses and the strategically timed deployment of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, surveillance at key points of the Internet's infrastructure, take-down notices, stringent terms of usage policies, and national information shaping strategies. Access Controlled reports on this new normative terrain. The book, a project from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a collaboration of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the SecDev Group, offers six substantial chapters that analyze Internet control in both Western and Eastern Europe and a section of shorter regional reports and country profiles drawn from material gathered by the ONI around the world through a combination of technical interrogation and field research methods.




Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2023


Book Description

As the United States grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s living legacy of systemic inequalities, and partisan threats to the foundations of democracy, the integrity of news—the focus of Project’s Censored’s work and this book—has never been more important. State of the Free Press 2023 is a joint production of The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press. State of the Free Press 2023 continues Project Censored’s tradition of publicizing the most important stories ignored or obscured by the news establishment, exposing the lies and spin of corporate Junk Food News (frivolous stories that distract the public from actual news) and News Abuse (important stories covered in ways that undermine public understanding) while promoting the best independent journalism, research, and activism. Most importantly, this edition helps endow readers with the critical media literacy skills required to hold power to account for distorting or censoring news coverage.




The Cabinet


Book Description

Winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Excellence in American History Book Award Winner of the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize “Cogent, lucid, and concise...An indispensable guide to the creation of the cabinet...Groundbreaking...we can now have a much greater appreciation of this essential American institution, one of the major legacies of George Washington’s enlightened statecraft.” —Ron Chernow On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries—Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph—for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the US Constitution did not create or provide for such a body. Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrection, and constitutional challenges—and finding congressional help distinctly lacking—he decided he needed a group of advisors he could turn to for guidance. Authoritative and compulsively readable, The Cabinet reveals the far-reaching consequences of this decision. To Washington’s dismay, the tensions between Hamilton and Jefferson sharpened partisan divides, contributing to the development of the first party system. As he faced an increasingly recalcitrant Congress, he came to treat the cabinet as a private advisory body, greatly expanding the role of the executive branch and indelibly transforming the presidency. “Important and illuminating...an original angle of vision on the foundations and development of something we all take for granted.” —Jon Meacham “Fantastic...A compelling story.” —New Criterion “Helps us understand pivotal moments in the 1790s and the creation of an independent, effective executive.” —Wall Street Journal




Forget the Alamo


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller! “Lively and absorbing. . ." — The New York Times Book Review "Engrossing." —Wall Street Journal “Entertaining and well-researched . . . ” —Houston Chronicle Three noted Texan writers combine forces to tell the real story of the Alamo, dispelling the myths, exploring why they had their day for so long, and explaining why the ugly fight about its meaning is now coming to a head. Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events, as Forget the Alamo definitively shows, owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos--Texans of Mexican origin, who fought alongside the Anglo rebels--scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear for some, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness. In the past forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.