Censored 2014
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In response, CNN admitted that it has carried advertising by a Bahraini government agency but strongly denied any connection between that and Lyon’s report not airing.61 Lyon was later laid off from CNN and has been reporting independently since then.
The second journalist, Daniel Simpson, was a British writer based in Serbia who worked as the Balkans correspondent for the New York Times for about a year starting in 2002, reporting mostly on political developments.62
But Simpson would later recall how Times editors leaned on him to slant his stories more in line with the Times’ conventional wisdom of geopolitics in the Balkan region and in keeping with Bush administration positions in its newly declared war on terror.
This included at one point, he said, being urged by the US embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, as well as by a Times colleague in New York, reporter Judith Miller, to dig up evidence that would link the Bosnian Serb Republic to suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.63 Simpson said that Miller (who would later be discredited for her reporting on Iraq) “wanted me to say [in an article] that Serbs were selling Saddam Hussein ‘weapons of mass destruction’ delivery systems. Now, it turned out that what they were actually selling was spare parts for planes . . .”64
Fed up, he says, with what he called the “propaganda” and spin being put out by the US government in the war on terror and the supportive role played by the Times and other corporate media, he left the Times and the news business entirely.
Simpson today is quite open about once having fabricated part of a story that was published on the front page of the Times, and about having used a fake identity in a letter to the editor that he sent to the Times, later published by the paper while he was still working there.65 These actions strain Simpson’s journalistic credibility and cannot be defended.
But at the very least, the claim of self-censorship and institutional bias at the New York Times, and the credible evidence of news censorship at CNN, both deserve to be covered and debated widely in the US establishment press, not dismissed or ignored as they have been.
BRIAN COVERT is an independent journalist and author based in Kawanishi, western Japan. He has worked for United Press International news service in Japan, as staff reporter for three of Japan’s English-language daily newspapers, and as contributor to Japanese and overseas newspapers and magazines. He contributed a chapter to Censored 2013 on the Fukushima nuclear disaster and news censorship in Japan. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of Media, Journalism, and Communications at Doshisha University in Kyoto.
Notes
1. United Nations, “Declaration of Windhoek,” http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/windhoek.shtml.
2. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media—World Press Freedom Day,” May 2–4, 2013, http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/WPFD/wpfd2013_agenda_en.pdf.
3. Keith Koffler, “Obama Schedule: Friday, May 3, 2013,” White House Dossier.com, http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/05/02/obama-schedule-friday-3-2013/.
4. White House, “Statement by the President on World Press Freedom Day,” May 3, 2012, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/03/statement-president-world-press-freedom-day. See also similar statements for the years 2009 to 2011 on the White House website, http://www.whitehouse.gov/(search term: World Press Freedom Day).
5. White House, “Statement by the President in Honor of World Press Freedom Day,” May 1, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-by-the-President-in-honor-of-World-Press-Freedom-Day/.
6. Finding from search of archives on the White House website, http://www.whitehouse.gov/(search term: World Press Freedom Day). Accessed on May 28, 2013.
7. Barack Obama, “President Obama Holds a Press Conference with President Chinchilla,” video and transcript, White House, May 3, 2013, http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/vid-eo/2013/05/03/president-obama-holds-press-conference-president-chinchilla. See also UNES-CO, “Who Will Expose the Hidden Truths?,” World Press Freedom Day, May 4, 2013, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/resources/who-will-reveal-the-hidden-truths/.
8. Mark Sherman, “Gov’t Obtains Wide AP Phone Records in Probe,” Associated Press, May 13, 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-obtains-wide-ap-phone-records-probe.
9. “Bradley Manning: Charge Sheet,” Guardian, March 4, 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/interactive/2011/mar/04/bradley-manning-charge-sheet.
10. “Primary Documents—US Espionage Act, 15 June 1917,” FirstWorldWar.com, http://www.first-worldwar.com/source/espionageact.htm.
11. Ed Pilkington, “WikiLeaks Suspect Bradley Manning Gives Evidence for First Time,” Guardian, November 29, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/29/wikileaks-bradley-manning-gives-evidence.
12. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, “Turning Their Back on Bradley Manning: Whistleblower Speaks—But Press Doesn’t Listen,” December 4, 2012, http://fair.org/take-action/media-advi-sories/turning-their-back-on-bradley-manning/.
13. Ibid.
14. Charlie Savage, “I Did It to Make the World a Better Place: Manning,” New York Times, as published in Sydney Morning Herald, March 1, 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/world/i-did-it-to-make-the-world-a-better-place-manning-20130301-2f9y3.html. See also Alexa O’Brien, “Pfc. Bradley E. Manning’s Statement for the Providence Inquiry,” February 28, 2013, http://www.alexaobrien.com/secondsight/wikileaks/bradley_manning/pfc_bradley_e_manning_provi-dence_hearing_statement.html.
15. O’Brien, “Pfc. Bradley E. Manning’s Statement for the Providence Inquiry.”
16. Ibid.
17. Al Jazeera English, “The Case of the US vs Bradley Manning,” Listening Post program, March 9, 2013, http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2013/03/201339107329512.html.
18. Margaret Sullivan, “The Times Should Have a Reporter at the Bradley Manning Hearing,” New York Times, December 5, 2012, http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/the-times-should-have-a-reporter-at-the-bradley-manning-hearing/.
19. Kevin Gosztola, “MSNBC Doesn’t Cover Bradley Manning’s Statement or Guilty Pleas at All,” FireDogLake, March 2, 2013, http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/02/msnbc-doesnt-cover-bradley-mannings-statement-or-guilty-pleas-at-all/. See also Kevin Gosztola, “A Shame There Aren’t More Journalists Covering Bradley Manning’s Court Martial,” FireDogLake, March 16, 2013, http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/16/a-shame-there-arent-more-journalists-covering-bradley-mannings-court-martial/. For a revealing interview with Gosztola on media coverage of the Manning trial, see Arun Rath, “Why Foreign Media Cover the Bradley Manning Trial,” Public Radio International, The World program, March 15, 2013, http://www.theworld.org/2013/03/foreign-media-manning-trial/.
20. Kevin Gosztola, “The US Press Failed Bradley Manning,” FireDogLake, February 28, 2013, http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/02/28/the-us-press-failed-bradley-manning/. See also Janet Reitman, “Did the Mainstream Media Fail Bradley Manning?,” Rolling Stone, March 1, 2013, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/did-the-mainstream-media-fail-bradley-manning-20130301.
21. Glenn Greenwald, “Bradley Manning: The Face of Heroism,” Guardian, February 28, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/28/bradley-manning-heroism-pleads-guilty. [Ed. note: the Manning trial was just getting underway when this book was going to the publisher and off to print.]
22. Change.gov : The Office of the President-Elect, “The Obama-Biden Plan: Spend Taxpayer Money Wisely—Protect Whistleblowers,” http://change.gov/agenda/ethics_agenda/.
23. Tom Devine, “Obama’s Dangerously Contradictory Stance on Whistleblowing,” Guardian, April 16, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/16/obama-contradictory-stance-whistleblowing.
24. Jane Mayer, “The Secret Sharer: Is Thomas Drake an Enemy of the State?,” New Yorker, May 23, 2011, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fact_
mayer.
25. Richard Silverstein, “Why I Published US Intelligence Secrets about Israel’s Anti-Iran Campaign,” Truthout, October 14, 2011, http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/3499:why-1-published-us-intelligence-secrets-about-israels-ant11ran-campaign.
26. Stephen Kim Legal Defense Trust, http://stephenkim.org/.
27. Ann E. Marimow, “A Rare Peek into a Justice Department Leak Probe,” Washington Post, May 20, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-rare-peek-into-a-justice-department-leak-probe/2013/05/19/0bc473de-be5e-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html.
28. Warren Richey, “Former Covert CIA Agent Charged with Leaking Secrets to Newspaper,” Christian Science Monitor, January 6, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0106/Former-covert-CIA-agent-charged-with-leaking-secrets-to-newspaper.
29. Josh Gerstein, “Feds: Judge’s Ruling Destroyed Case against Alleged Leaker,” Politico, January 6, 2012, http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/01/feds-judges-ruling-destroyed-case-against-alleged-109921.html. See also Charlie Savage, “Nine Leak-Related Cases,” June 20, 2012, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/us/nine-leak-related-cases.html.
30. Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen, “Waterboarding Recounted,” Washington Post, December 11, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121002091.html.
31. “Defend John Kiriakou” support website, http://www.defendjohnk.com/index.html.
32. John Diedrich, “Ex-Wisconsin Man Charged in Espionage Case,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 12, 2012, http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/former-wisconsin-man-charged-in-national-espionage-case-vc7k4vp-179024791.html. See also Jesselyn Radack, “Obama’s 7th Espionage Act Case Against a Non-Spy,” Daily Kos, April 9, 2013, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/09/1200306/-Obama-s-7th-Espionage-Act-Case-Against-a-Non-Spy; and Aaron Sekhri, “Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy,” Stanford Daily, November 12, 2012, http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/11/12/tinker-sailor-soldier-spy/.
33. Josh Gerstein, “Judge Orders Release of Linguist for Navy,” Politico, December 19, 2012, http://www.politico.com//blogs/under-the-radar/2012/12/judge-orders-release-of-linguist-for-navy-152440.html. See also Ryan Abbott, “Linguist in State Secrets Jam Gets House Arrest,” Courthouse News Service, December 21, 2012, http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/12/21/53358.htm.
34. Barack Obama, “Presidential Memorandum—Rulemaking Concerning the Standards for Designating Positions in the Competitive Service as National Security Sensitive and Related Matters,” White House, January 25, 2013, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/25/presidential-memorandum-rulemaking-concerning-standards-designating-posi.
35. Margaret Talev, “Obama Memo on ‘Sensitive’ Jobs Stirs Whistle-Blower Fears,” Bloomberg, February 27, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-27/obama-memo-on-sensitive-jobs-stirs-whistle-blower-fears.html.
36. Molly Redden, “Is the ‘Chilling Effect’ Real? National-Security Reporters on the Impact of Federal Scrutiny,” New Republic, May 15, 2013, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113219/doj-seizure-ap-records-raises-question-chilling-effect-real.
37. International Press Institute, “2012 Deadliest Year on Record for Journalists,” November 21, 2012, http://www.freemedia.at/home/singleview/article/2012-deadliest-year-on-record-for-journalists.html. See also International Press Institute, “IPI Death Watch,” http://www.freemedia.at/our-activities/death-watch.html.
38. Reporters Without Borders, “2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed Hopes After Spring,” http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html.
39. UNESCO, “The Safety of Journalists: Why Should You Care?,” http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-and-in-focus-articles/in-focus-arti-cles/2012/the-safety-of-journalists-why-should-you-care/.
40. Committee to Protect Journalists, “Attacks on the Press: Journalism on the Front Lines in 2012,” http://cpj.org/2013/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2012.php.
41. Committee to Protect Journalists, “Attacks on the Press—Killed in 2012: A Worldwide Roundup,” http://cpj.org/2013/02/attacks-on-the-press-killed-in-2012.php.
42. Committee to Protect Journalists, “Attacks on the Press—Prison Census 2012: A Worldwide Roundup,” http://cpj.org/2013/02/attacks-on-the-press-prison-census-2012-a-worldwid.php.
43. Rick Gladstone, “Report Sees Journalists Increasingly Under Attack,” New York Times, February 14, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/world/attacks-on-journalists-rose-in-2012-group-finds.html?_r=0.
44. United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Human Rights Council Adopts 11 Texts on Safety of Journalists, Transitional Justice, Corruption and Terrorist Hostage-Taking,” September 27, 2012, http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12596&LangID=E. See also Helena Williams, “UN Human Rights Body Throws Weight behind Safety for Journalists,” International News Safety Institute, September 28, 2012, http://newssafetyblog.org/2012/09/28/un-human-rights-body-throws-weight-behind-safety-for-journalists/.
45. United Nations, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (full text), http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml.
46. UNESCO, “Along the Freedom Road 1989–1998,” http://www.unesco.org/webworld/fed/temp/communication_democracy/along.htm.
47. Pennsylvania General Assembly, text of amended Act No. 13, February 14, 2012, http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2012/0/0013..HTM.
48. Christopher Banks, “Pennsylvania Law Gags Doctors,” Liberation News, June 13, 2012, http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/pennsylvania-law-gags-doctors.html.
49. Ellen Cantarow, “The Downwinders: Fracking Ourselves to Death in Pennsylvania,” Al Jazeera English, May 11, 2013, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/05/201357123155791818.html. For additional coverage of fracking, see the Censored News Cluster, “Health and the Environment,” in this volume.
50. Kate Sheppard, “For Pennsylvania’s Doctors, a Gag Order on Fracking Chemicals,” Mother Jones, March 23, 2012, http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/03/fracking-doctors-gag-pennsylvania.
51. Pierre Bertrand, “Pennsylvania Fracking Bill Puts Gag Order on Doctors, Union Says,” International Business Times, March 28, 2012, http://www.ibtimes.com/pennsylvania-fracking-bill-puts-gag-order-doctors-union-says-4311_44.
52. Neela Banerjee, “Pennsylvania Law on Fracking Chemicals Worries Doctors,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2012, http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/21/nation/la-na-adv-fracking-doc-tors-20120422.
53. Jacob Chamberlain, “Fracking Activists Could Face Felony Charges as ‘Ag-Gag’ Laws Spread,” Common Dreams, May 9, 2013, https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/09-10.
54. “Pennsylvania House Bill 683,” LegiScan.com, http://legiscan.com/PA/text/HB683/id/775868.
55. “‘iRevolution’ Documentary, Bahrain Segment,” AmberLyonLive.com, http://amberlyonlive.com/bahrain-coverage/.
56. Glenn Greenwald, “Why Didn’t CNN’s International Arm Air its Own Documentary on Bahrain’s Arab Spring Repression?,” Guardian, September 4, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/04/cnn-international-documentary-bahrain-arab-spring-repression.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid.
60. Ibid.
61. “CNN International’s Response to the Guardian—Update,” CNN, September 5, 2012, http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/05/cnn-internationals-response-to-the-guardian/.
62. “Daniel Simpson,” archive listing of published articles, New York Times, http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/daniel_simpson/index.html.
63. Daniel Simpson, “Weapons of Mass Delusion in the Balkans,” RoughGuideDarkSide.com, http://www.roughguidedarkside.com/2002/11/02/wmd-balkans-judy-miller-nytimes/.
64. “NYT Propaganda” segment (interview with Daniel Simpson), Breaking the Set, Russia Today, September 18, 2012, http://rt.com/shows/breaking-set-summary/usa-dictaors-nyt-propagan-da/.
CENSORED NEWS CLUSTER
Plutocracy, Poverty, and
Prosperity
James F. Tracy
Censored #2
Richest Global 1 Percent Hide Trillions in Tax Havens
Carl Herman, “1% Hide $21 Trillion and US Big Banks Hide $10 Trillion; Ending World poverty: $3 Trillion,” Washington’s Blog, July 24, 2012, http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/07/i-hide-21-trillion-us-big-banks-hide-10-trillion-ending-world-poverty-3-trillion.html.
James S. Henry, “The Cost of Offshore Revisited,” Tax Justice Network, July 2012, http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_120722.pdf.
Student Researcher: Lyndsey Casey (Sonoma State University)
Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University)
Censored #3
Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens a Regime of Corporate Global Governance
Kevin Zeese, “Obama’s ‘Employment Creation’ Program: Massive Outsourcing of American Jobs,” Global Research, September 10, 2012, http://www.globalresearch.ca/obamas-employment-creation-program-massive-outsourcing-of-american-jobs/5304005.
Lori Wallach, “Breaking ‘08 Pledge, Leaked Trade Doc Shows Obama Wants to Help Corporations Avoid Regulations,” Democracy Now!, June 14, 2012, http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/14/breaking_08_pledge_leaked_trade_doc.
Andrew Gavin Marshall, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership: This Is What Corporate Governance Looks Like,” Truthout, November 20, 2012, http://truth-out.org/news/item/12857-the-trans-pacific-partnership-this-is-what-corporate-governance-looks-like.
Lori Wallach, “Can a ‘Dracula Strategy’ Bring Trans-Pacific Partnership into the Sunlight?,” Yes! Magazine, November 21, 2012, http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/can-dracula-strategy-bring-trans-pacific-partnership-into-sunlight.