Project Censored whose mission is to “teach students and the public about the role of a free press in a free society” comes up with its Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009/2010. For reasons exclusively known to them, mainstream media censored or downplayed these significant pieces of news. Here are some of them. You are free to form your own opinion as to why this news didn’t make the news.

The Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa and their maritime heists in and beyond the Gulf of Aden were fodder to many news headlines over the past several months. The ambuscades were extensively documented by mainstream media. However, little reporting had been done as to why these men took up arms and victimized mostly international cargo and oil ships. What the news readers have merely known is that these pirates are bad men whose plain criminality is done at sea. Mainstream news failed to dissect the situation further enough to touch on the socioeconomic reasons behind criminality. Somalis turned to piracy as a lucrative undertaking due to sheer poverty in their land. Fishing is their livelihood. But dumping of nuclear waste and rampant overfishing killed the seas and coastal waters of its resources that Somalis lost their basic means of livelihood.

The Amazon seems to be the center of many discussions pertaining to climate change, global warming, and deforestation. Mainstream media carried campaigns to save the Amazon. Little is known, though, of the fact that the western Amazon which is home to the richest rainforest biodiversity, as well as many indigenous tribes, will also be the location of fast track oil exploitation. ‘Vast swaths of the region are to be opened for oil and gas exploration, putting some of the planet’s most pristine and biodiverse forests at risk, conservationists have warned. A new study has found that at least thirty-five multinational oil and gas companies operate over 180 oil and gas “blocks”—areas zoned for exploration and development—which now cover the Amazon in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil.’

The destitute lives of Haitians, the pervading hunger, and the occurrence of food riots made mainstream media news during the past year. Little is reported of the fact that ‘the US government plans to expropriate and demolish the homes of hundreds of Haitians in the shantytown of Cité Soleil to expand the occupying UN force’s military base. The US government contractor DynCorp, a quasi-official arm of the Pentagon and the CIA, is responsible for the base expansion. DynCorp’s $5 million contracts include expansion of the principal base, the rebuilding of the Cité Soleil police station and two other militarized outposts, as well as training support and procurement of equipment.’

Sudanese president General Omar al-Bashir’s warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) found in The Hague made mainstream news headlines earlier this year. Not much was disclosed by mainstream media about the fact that ‘the ICC was used in the strategy to turn world opinion against al-Bashir and the government of Sudan, and to further divide and destabilize the region. The legitimacy of the court is being questioned as it shows itself to be a tool of Western hegemony.” The real reason behind all this is Western interest over ‘Sudan’s newly discovered oil riches.’ ‘What is not reported in English-speaking press is that the US had just stepped up its ongoing war for control of Sudan. There are US Special Forces on the ground throughout the region, and the big questions are, 1) How many of the killings are being committed by US proxy forces and blamed on al-Bashir and the government of Sudan? And 2) Who funds, arms and trains the rebel insurgents?’

Image: Jason R. Zalasky/US Navy
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