Monday, September 28, 2009
Huge donations by Wall Street to Congress, the reemergence of segregated education in America, and the pirating of Somalia’s territorial waters by foreign businesses are just some of the top stories that have gone underreported by the media, according to Project Censored. A journalism program out of Sonoma State University in California, Project Censored releases each year a top 25 list of important stories largely ignored by newspapers and other media sources. Its current list includes:
US Congress Sells Out to Wall Street: Washington’s decision last year to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out Wall Street wasn’t just about saving the U.S. economy. Eight of the largest recipients of the federal rescue donated more than $64 million to congressional candidates, presidential candidates and the Republican and Democratic parties since 2001. Barack Obama and John McCain received a combined total of $3.1 million from Wall Street while serving in the U.S. Senate.
US Schools are More Segregated Today than in the 1950s: Millions of minority students are stuck in so-called “dropout factory” high schools that few white students attend. According to a UCLA study, American student bodies are 44% non-white, and Latinos and blacks attend schools more segregated today than during the civil rights movement.
Toxic Waste Behind Somali Pirates: With all the attention on what Somali pirates have done to international shipping, the media has completely disregarded the “pirating” that has gone on in Somalia’s territorial waters. Ever since the country’s central government collapsed in1991, foreign fisherman have been raiding Somalia’s coastal waters. Even worse is the illegal dumping of toxic and radioactive waste off the coast of Somalia by foreign companies.
Project Censored’s top 25 list for 2010:
-Noel Brinkerhoff
(Project Censored)
Comments