The Sociology Department at Sonoma State University runs an important annual program called “Project Censored,” where a group of 200 students, professors, researchers, volunteer judges and others track news stories of social importance from magazines, independent journals and newsletters and then compiles a list of 25 influential stories that have been “overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country’s major national news media.” Its advocacy for First Amendment rights and democracy is innovative. Project Censored does not stand on soapboxes or send lobbyists to K Street, but instead completes the valuable and arduous work of research, analysis, and publication that stands at the heart of sound journalism and democracy.

Each year, PC churns out a broad body of very consequential pieces, and the 2007 version http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm is no exception.
Included are well-reported pieces on net nuetrality, the environment, corporate malfesance, the Bush Administration’s various blunders and other important topics.

However, certain threads I assumed would be on the list were noticably absent. Nothing on labor, little on issues surrounding urban America, and nothing on women’s rights. Does this reflect demographics of the digital divide or does it instead reflect the lack of diversity (economic, racial, and gender) in newsrooms across the country? I hope that in future years, PC focuses some of its efforts elsewhere and all of us seek to be inclusive in our coverage.

Adam Doster