The News Mainstream Media Doesn’t Want You to See

Review: Project Censored, State of the Free Press 2023

by Jude Ellman

State of the Free Press 2023 is a diligently compiled petition for change. It is written with an undeniable left-leaning skew, though a proclivity to liberalism is only expected from a group who’ve made it their mission to expose injustices. Their raison d’être is to be a voice for the marginalized and downtrodden, exposing corporate and government corruption is more directly their concern than is unceremoniously exposing systemic hypocrisies.

In my humble opinion, adherence to any kind of “journalist culture,” is an avenue to invite into your pressroom the caustic self-censorship that misguides the pursuit of truth. Project Censored was almost too interested in dispelling conservative red-herrings and strawmans to even pretend to hold the same magnifying glass to liberal ones.

Mickey Huff, Project Censored’s third director, denied there was censorship of any kind in their story selection process, patently stating “No. We are opposed to censorship.” All chosen stories went through a rigorous judicial review process. Perhaps their sided coverage is due to luck and bureaucratic selection and not the liberal culture of independent media, I can’t be sure. For instance, they were quick to point out the negatives of American gun policy, but don’t begin to investigate the media’s role in creating fear and popularizing mass-shootings. Sure, they blame Tucker Carleson a little, but at the end of the day it’s easier to pin gun violence on the GOP and mention their connections to white supremacy.

Scary scary republicans, never scary scary democrats.

All this said, the book offers a fantastic array of underreported stories, all of which are deserving of public attention. What they wrote about is important, I just wish it was totally unbiased. I can’t expect it to be…. Idealists are forever dissatisfied.

Huff said the stories about how, “the media and how the establishment press is very reluctant to cover stories that out their own biases” are the most significant for him. He used story 12 as an example, “Facebook’s Blacklist of ‘Dangerous Individuals and Organizations’ Stifles Public Debate.” Even this story that clearly has room to address the shadow-banning of certain right-wing speakers, was used mostly as a platform to expose Facebook for banning minority activist groups too often in proportion. Regardless:

As a dedicated student of politics interested in the social and economic welfare of my fellow Americans, the articles I find most pressing are those tied to the systemic failure of American democracy. This parameter is nearly useless as a discriminatory factor in deciding which section is most important.

After reading the first chapter, it is more than clear that our government is beholden to private enterprise:

  • “Fossil Fuel Industry Subsidized at Rate of $11 Million per Minute
    • They are some of Earth’s most profitable businesses; they need taxpayer money why?
  • “Dark Money Interference in US Politics Undermines Democracy
    • This section requires no elaboration.
  • “At Least 128 Members of Congress Invested in the Fossil Fuel Industry”
    • This is not the only industry our elected representatives invest in. They have the power to influence markets with their speech and legislative actions. Any investment in firms made by representatives creates a conflict of interest with their elected duty of prioritizing the welfare of their constituents.

Not only has the U.S. government ceased operating as a representative democracy, it has dropped the facade of vanguarding human rights:

  • CIA Plans to Kidnap or Kill Julian Assange”
    • The government humored murdering someone for saying things they do not like… I wonder if this has happened before.
  • “The Human Mind as ‘New Domain of War’ NATO Plans for Cognitive Warfare
    • Holden, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984 lives within the territory of Oceania that is governed by a regime called INGSOC. NATO controls much of the same territory, and now has clearly expressed interest in weaponizing the minds of its citizens, eerily alike the quintessential piece of dystopian fiction. The Gen-Z tagline “literally 1984” rings truer than ever.

Determining which of the preceding issues should be of greatest concern is impossible. They coalesce into a swamp of corruption comorbidity. This swamp is like a plaque clogging the arteries of democracy. As it builds the chance of fatality grows higher, every day our republic edges closer to the final stroke that will change the lives of billions.

I believe every story Project Censored included is legitimately noteworthy. I simply do not want to rate these issues as if I was writing a clickbait “listicle.” Such writing is plentiful enough.

I wish they did more investigation into the financial sector, higher education, and public mental health. It would be great if the book included exposés on all of Washington’s familiar faces. It would be even better if it included a list of hidden kingmakers. Though the book claims to demonstrate the stories that were too contentious for the press, there are obviously some people too powerful for even them to skewer. Where are the stories about the micropenised parasites sucking money from the taxpayer through the military-industrial complex? For the first time in history, one could seriously ask the question… What about the alien coverup? What are the UFOs that world governments are now confirming? How long has this psy-op been going on for?

Maybe in 2024…  

Renowned journalist A.J. Liebling famously said, “Freedom of the press is only guaranteed to those who own one.” It is clear that we, as Americans, need to rethink a lot if we wish to keep ablaze the light of democracy.

I researched NATO’s cognitive warfare campaign. There is very little media covering it. NATO overtly states their intentions and explores the opportunities, mechanisms, and risks of such experimentation.

This is how NATO describes the practice, “Its field of action is global and aimed to seize control of human beings (civilian as well as military), organizations, nations, but also of ideas, psychology, especially behavioral, thoughts, as well as the environment.”

What the fuck?

I suppose we aren’t supposed to ask. I suppose we aren’t supposed to know. There is a reason stories like this didn’t make the news. This was a deeper look into just one of the hidden stories in this year’s edition, all of them warrant attention they unfortunately will never get.

Though independent media has been swift in offering criticisms and explanations, mainstream sources have almost entirely avoided the subject. Calling attention to propaganda defeats the purpose of propaganda, unless you hope to propagandize the public against propagandists. Russian and Chinese propaganda is bad, and according to NATO thinktanks, this is a justification for programming the people of the west. It is clearly an evolution of the work of Edward Bernays. It isn’t duly covered because the powers that be benefit from the ignorance of the masses as they certainly wouldn’t want to be controlled knowingly.

The book’s other chapters offer in depth explorations of the day’s most relevant issues. The mounds of saccharine and syrup we slurp like gluttonous hogs, the children being shot in school and the nation’s paralysis in response, the industry wide failure of media to give you anything but mental syphilis; all of these topics are covered at length. If you aren’t caught up to speed, maybe this is the book for you.

To create a cohesive global society, to pursue the transhumanist agenda, to establish world peace! All these ideas have rationalized genocides. We must be diligent and weary as we proceed.

In reference to if true journalism can ever overpower the propaganda of the one-percent, Huff made his point of view clear, “We have a lot of work cut out for us, but with critical media literacy education and a truly independent press, we have a chance.”

Check out Project Censored here

Or this year’s edition of State of the Free Press