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(DRAFT -- <ent type='ORG'>SSU NEWS RELEASE</ent> -- CJ -- 5/17/87)</p>

<p>May 21, 1987 # Contact: <ent type='PERSON'>Barbara Foote</ent>'</p>

<p>(EDITOR'S NOTE: A NATIONAL PANEL OF MEDIA EXPERTS ANNUALLY SELECTS
THE TOP TEN UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF THE YEAR)</p>

<p>PERSONAL HARASSMENT AND ADMINISTRATION CENSORSHIP
TOP UNDER-REPORTED NEWS STORIES OF 1986</p>

<p>ROHNERT <ent type='GPE'>PARK</ent> -- The official harassment of U.S. citizens
opposed to the Reagan administration's <ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent> policies topped
the list of 25 overlooked news stories of 1986 according to a national
panel of media experts.</p>

<p>The second most undercovered story of the year, cited by
Project Censored, warned of the growth of information control in the
United States including censorship, disinformation, and a new, broader
classification category.</p>

<p>Now in its 11th year, Project Censored, a national media
research effort conducted annually at <ent type='GPE'>Sonoma</ent> State University,
<ent type='GPE'>California</ent>, locates stories about significant issues which are not
widely publicized by the national news media.</p>

<p>Following are the top ten under-reported news stories of 1986
as announced by project director <ent type='PERSON'>Carl Jensen</ent>, professor of
communication studies at <ent type='GPE'>Sonoma</ent> State University:</p>

<p>1.Criticizing <ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent> Policies Can Be Dangerous.
Political opponents of the Reagan administration's <ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent>
policies were the targets of mysterious break-ins, Internal Revenue
Service audits, and <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> surveillance and interrogation. <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent>man
<ent type='PERSON'>Don Edwards</ent> (D-CA), a former <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent></p>

<p>agent, warned that the administration may be "using the various
independent agencies of <ent type='GPE'>the United</ent> States government for their
political purposes."</p>

<p>2.Official Information Control . <ent type='ORG'>The American Library</ent>
Association documented Reagan administration efforts to eliminate,
restrict, and privatize government documents; in 1986 the government
officially launched a new "disinformation" program which permits it to
release deliberately false, incomplete, and misleading information; it
also developed a new category of "sensitive information" which
restricts public access to a broad range of previously unclassified
data.</p>

<p>3.Personal Privacy Lost.In 1986 the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> was given
extra-ordinary powers to look into private financial and telephonic
files of <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> citizens "suspected of being in the employ of a
foreign power." The Intelligence Authorization Bill also permits the
<ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> to share such information with any other government agency, such
as the <ent type='ORG'>IRS</ent>, which has a relevant interest in it.</p>

<p>4.<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> Paid for Pro <ent type='ORG'>Contra</ent> Media Coverage. Edgar
Chamorro, former head of contra communications in <ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent>,
testified that "approximately 15 <ent type='NORP'>Honduran</ent> journalists and broadcasters
were on the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> payroll" and that contra influence extended to every
major <ent type='NORP'>Honduran</ent> newspaper and television station. <ent type='PERSON'>Carlos Morales</ent>, a
<ent type='NORP'>Costa Rican</ent> professor of journalism, reported that at least eight
<ent type='NORP'>Costa Rican</ent> journalists, including three "top editors," received
monthly payments from the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>.</p>

<p>5.President Reagan and the World Anti-Communist League.
According to investigators, the World Anti-Communist League (<ent type='ORG'>WACL</ent>), an
international right-wing group, is so extreme that the John Birch
Society has shunned it and advises its members to do likewise. Yet
President Reagan sent its U.S. leader, retired U.S. Major General John
Singlaub, a letter congratulating the <ent type='ORG'>WACL</ent> on its "leadership role"
and "best wishes for every future success."</p>

<p>6.<ent type='ORG'>Nerve Gas</ent> Production in Residential Areas. Although
the military has been under orders from <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> since 1984 to dispose
of nerve gases by 1994, nerve gases are currently being manufactured
and tested in 46 U.S. communities, in 26 states across the country,
usually without the knowledge of the local residents.</p>

<p>7.<ent type='ORG'>Contragate</ent>: The Untold Story. Affidavits submitted in
a $17 million lawsuit filed last year by <ent type='ORG'>the Christic Institute</ent> reveal
that for a quarter of a century, a secret team of official and retired
U.S. military and <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> officials has trafficked in drugs, assassinated
political enemies, stolen from the U.S. government, armed terrorists,
and subverted the will of <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> and the public with hundreds of
millions of drug dollars at their disposal. Defendants in the suit
include retired Major Generals <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Secord</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>John Singlaub</ent>, and
businessman <ent type='PERSON'>Albert Hakim</ent>.</p>

<p>8.Federal Radiation Tests on <ent type='NORP'>American</ent>s. Human radiation
tests, reminiscent of the heinous experiments conducted by the <ent type='NORP'>Nazis</ent>
and <ent type='NORP'>Japanese</ent> during <ent type='EVENT'>World War</ent> II, were conducted from the mid-1940's
until the 1970's by official U.S. federal agencies and prestigious
academic and medical institutions; they were revealed last October.</p>

<p>9.Veterans' Administration Destroys Evidence. In August,
1986, <ent type='ORG'>the Veterans</ent>' Administration was caught shredding thousands of
case records of contested radiation injury claims filed by military
personnel who had been exposed to nuclear radiation since the 1940's.</p>

<p>10.The Lethal Shuttle: Plutonium Payload Scheduled. The
space shuttle scheduled to follow the tragic Challenger launch last
year would have carried 46.7 pounds of toxic plutonium-238. A leading
scientist warned that the plutonium, if dispersed in fine pieces by an
exlosion, would release more plutonium radioactivity than the combined
fallout from all nuclear weapons tests of the U.S., <ent type='GPE'>the Soviet Union</ent>,
and <ent type='GPE'>the United</ent> Kingdom. Despite the global risks involved, <ent type='ORG'>NASA</ent> plans
to go ahead with plutonium-fueled space probes when shuttle missions
start again.</p>

<p>The other 15 under-reported stories of 1986 were: The Unknown
War in <ent type='GPE'>West Papua</ent>, <ent type='EVENT'>The Forgotten War</ent> in El Salvador, Senator Jesse
Helms' Military Coup in <ent type='GPE'>Argentina</ent>, US Air Force Toxic Waste Scandal In
<ent type='GPE'>Oklahoma City</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Leonard Peltier</ent>: America's Unknown Political Prisoner,
Marion Prison: The Longest Continual Lockdown in U.S. Prison History,
<ent type='ORG'>The Mighty Oak Nuclear Test Accident</ent> Cover-up, The Unheralded
Breakthrough in Animal Cloning, Feldene: The Deadly Anti-inflammatory
Drug, The State of <ent type='GPE'>California</ent> and Bank of <ent type='GPE'>America</ent> Conspiracy to Hide a
Discrimination Suit Settlement, The Ku Klux Klan Connection in the
Murders of Black Children In <ent type='GPE'>Atlanta</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>The Plowshares Movement</ent>:
<ent type='NORP'>American</ent>s Jailed for Obeying International Law, <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> Corrupts Academic
Community Again, An Immigration Law to Prevent Foreign Performers from
Playing in the U.S., George Bush Applies Political <ent type='ORG'>Press</ent>ure for
Friend's Hydroelectric Project.</p>

<p>PROJECT CENSORED JUDGES
The panel of jurors who selected the top ten stories were:
Dr. <ent type='PERSON'>Donna Allen</ent>, editor and publisher of MEDIA REPORT TO WOMEN; Ben
Bagdikian, Dean, Graduate School of Journalism, University of
<ent type='GPE'>California</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Berkeley</ent>; <ent type='PERSON'>Noam Chomsky</ent>, professor, Linguistics and
Philosophy, <ent type='ORG'>Massachusetts Institute</ent> of Technology, and writer on
contemporary affairs; Dr. Everette E. Dennis, Executive Director,
<ent type='ORG'>Gannett Center for</ent> Media Studies, <ent type='GPE'>Columbia</ent> University; Dr. George
Gerbner, Dean, <ent type='PERSON'>Anne</ent>nberg School of Communications, University of
<ent type='GPE'>Pennsylvania</ent>; Charlayne Hunter-Gault, national correspondent,
MacNEIL/LEHRER <ent type='ORG'>NEWSHOUR</ent>; <ent type='PERSON'>Nicholas Johnson</ent>, public lecturer, nationally
syndicated columnist and professor of law; Charles L. <ent type='ORG'>Klotzer</ent>, editor
and publisher, THE ST. <ent type='GPE'>LOUIS</ent> JOURNALISM REVIEW; <ent type='PERSON'>Brad Knickerbocker</ent>,
national news editor, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR; <ent type='PERSON'>Jessica Mitford</ent>,
writer and lecturer; Dr. Jack L. Nelson, Dean, School of Education,
San Jose State University, <ent type='GPE'>California</ent>; Dr. <ent type='PERSON'>Herbert</ent> I. <ent type='ORG'>Schiller</ent>,
Professor of Communication, University of <ent type='GPE'>California</ent>, San Diego.</p>

<p><ent type='GPE'>Sonoma</ent> State University student researchers participating in
the nationwide research effort were <ent type='PERSON'>Peggy Sue Alberhasky</ent>, Sarah
Alcorn, <ent type='PERSON'>Larry Crowell</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Daren Decker</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Dave Hoffman</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Mike Jasper</ent>, Karen
Kitchens, <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Montan</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Laura Moore</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Nancy Neilson</ent>, Bebe O'Brien, and
<ent type='PERSON'>Bruce Schwank</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'>Kathy Wolff</ent>, a project researcher in 1986, was
assistant project director.</p>

<p>Dr. <ent type='PERSON'>Jensen</ent>, who originated the media research project in 1976,
said "The most serious warning in this year's results is the
administration's systematic assault on our free flow of information.
<ent type='ORG'>The American Library</ent> Association has published a 33-page document
which lists page after page of specific efforts by the Reagan
administration to restrict government information. Recently, the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the <ent type='ORG'>Press</ent> issued a summary of
actions by the Reagan administration to restrict public and media
access to government information which includes 135 such actions. The
Reagan administration's efforts at information control are serious and
deserve as least as much media attention as that given the peccadillos
of <ent type='PERSON'>Gary Hart</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Jim Bakker</ent>."</p>

<p>Anyone interested in nominating a 1987 story for next year's project
can send a copy of the story to <ent type='PERSON'>Carl Jensen</ent>, Project Censored, <ent type='GPE'>Sonoma</ent>
State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.</p>

<p>--<ent type='ORG'>SSU</ent> --</p>

<p>(EDITOR'S NOTE: SIDEBAR STORY FOLLOWS)</p>

<p>INVESTIGATIVE <ent type='GPE'>JOURNALISTS</ent> AND MEDIA
CITED FOR EXPOSING "CENSORED" STORIES</p>

<p>Following are the investigative journalists and media cited by
Project Censored for exploring the top ten issues overlooked or under-reported by the national news media in 1986:</p>

<p>1.Criticizing <ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent> Policies -- KRON-TV Target
4, <ent type='GPE'>San Francisco</ent>, 2/18-20/87, <ent type='PERSON'>Sylvia Chase</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Jonathan Dann</ent>; Center for
Investigative Reporting, Angus Mackenzie.</p>

<p>2.Official Information Control -- <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> Library
Association, Washington Office, "<ent type='ORG'>Less Access</ent> to Less Information By
and About the U.S. Government: 2," 12/86, by <ent type='PERSON'>Anne</ent> A. Heanue.</p>

<p>3.Personal Privacy Lost -- THE NATIONAL REPORTER,
Fall/Winter 1986, "News Not In The News: Reach Out and Crush Someone,"
by <ent type='PERSON'>Don Goldberg</ent>.</p>

<p>4.<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> Paid For Pro <ent type='ORG'>Contra</ent> Media Coverage -- <ent type='ORG'>COLUMBIA</ent>
JOURNALISM REVIEW, March/April 1987, "<ent type='ORG'>Contra</ent> coverage -- paid for by
the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>," by <ent type='PERSON'>Martha Honey</ent>.</p>

<p>5.The World Anti-Communist League -- INSIDE THE LEAGUE,
<ent type='PERSON'>Dodd</ent>, Mead, 1986, by <ent type='PERSON'>Scott</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Jon Lee Anderson</ent>, reprinted in ST.
<ent type='GPE'>LOUIS</ent> JOURNALISM REVIEW; BRIARPATCH, November, 1986, "In League with
The Devil: The World Anti-Communist League," by <ent type='PERSON'>George Martin Manz</ent>;
<ent type='ORG'>UTNE READER</ent>, August 1986, "<ent type='LOC'>Moonies</ent>, Loonies, and <ent type='PERSON'>Ronnie</ent>," by Eric
Selbin.</p>

<p>6.<ent type='ORG'>Nerve Gas</ent> Production in Residential Areas -- RECON,
Winter 1987, "<ent type='ORG'>Nerve Gas</ent> in Residential Areas," by Chris Robinson.</p>

<p>7.<ent type='ORG'>Contragate</ent>: The Untold Story -- THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY
GUARDIAN, 12/3/86+, "<ent type='ORG'>Contragate</ent>: The Costa Rica Connection," by
<ent type='PERSON'>Michael Emery</ent>.</p>

<p>8.Radiation Tests -- <ent type='ORG'>THE NEW YORK TIMES</ent>, 10/24/86,
"<ent type='ORG'>Volunteers Around</ent> U.S. Submitted to Radiation," p A20.</p>

<p>9.Veterans' Administration Destroys Evidence -- <ent type='ORG'>VVA</ent>
VETERAN, November 1986, "Scandal Hints Plague VA," and January 1987,
"The Scandal Deepens," by <ent type='PERSON'>Mark Perry</ent>.</p>

<p>10.The Lethal Shuttle -- Plutonium Payload -- THE NATION,
2/22/86, "The Lethal Shuttle," and 3/15/86, "Plutonium Cover-up?;"
COMMON CAUSE, July/August 1986, "Red Tape and Radioactivity," all by
Karl Grossman.</p>

<p>--<ent type='ORG'>SSU</ent> --

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