Editing Project Censored (section)

== History ==
''Project Censored'' was founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen, Associate Professor of Media Studies at [[Sonoma State University|Sonoma State College]], as a media research program.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morrow |first1=Frank |title=The U.S. Power Structure and the Mass Media |date=1984 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheU.s.PowerStructureAndTheMassMedia/ |language=English |quote=ark:/13960/t5j962f5k   Ph.D dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin}} {{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheU.s.PowerStructureAndTheMassMedia/Chapter4-TheContentOfMassMedia--ElementsForBias_djvu.txt|title=chapter 4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Project Censored founder Carl Jensen dies at 85 | newspaper = The Press Democrat | first =  Paul | last = Payne | date = April 26, 2015 | url = http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3851248-181/project-censored-founder-carl-jensen | access-date = Feb 14, 2018}}</ref> The project focused on student media literacy and critical thinking skills as applied to the US news media censorship.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Censored 20th Anniversary Edition: The 1996 Project Censored Yearbook|last=Jensen|first=Carl|publisher=Seven Stories Press|year=1996|location=New York|pages=14–15}}</ref>

Corporate media reporters, editors, and executives<ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKoDqErD_A8 |title=Project Censored: Is the Press Really Free?  The 1998 documentary |date=2012-06-12 |last=Steve Keller |access-date=2025-04-08 |via=YouTube}}</ref> lampooned Jensen for claiming they "censored" news stories. They argued that the stories were not censored, but that due to time and space constraints, they could not publish every story. Jensen began an annual study that found that, rather than covering newsworthy stories, the corporate media often featured trivial and non-newsworthy stories, which Jensen termed "[[junk food news]]" in a 1983 interview published in ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jenson|first=Carl|title=Censored 2001|publisher=Seven Stories Press|year=2001|isbn=978-1-58322-064-1|pages=251–264|language=English}}</ref> Since the first ''Censored'' yearbook, published in 1993, each annual ''Censored'' volume has featured a chapter dedicated to exposing examples of what Jensen originally identified as "junk food news".

In 1996, when Jensen retired, [[Peter Phillips (American academic)|Peter Phillips]], also a sociology professor at Sonoma State University, became director of Project Censored. He continued to expand the Project's educational outreach and the annual book, adding the concept and analysis of "News Abuse" to elaborate Jensen's idea of "junk food" news.<ref>{{Cite book|title=News Abuse of 1999," Censored 2000: The Year's Top Censored Stories|last=Hale|first=Corey|publisher=Seven Stories|year=2016|location=New York|pages=157–163}}</ref> "News abuse" refers to corporate media stories that were newsworthy, but presented in a slanted or non-newsworthy manner.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Junk Food News and News Abuse: A Brief History," ''Censored 2017: Fortieth Anniversary Edition'', ed. Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth with Project Censored|last=Nolan Higdon|first=Mickey Huff|publisher=Seven Stories|year=2016|location=New York|pages=149–151}}</ref>

In 2000, Project Censored came under the oversight of the non-profit '''Media Freedom Foundation''', founded by Jensen and Phillips to ensure its independence. In 2007, two of Project Censored judges resigned due to then-director Peter Phillips' decision to invite [[Steven E. Jones]], a [[9/11 Truth movement|9/11 Truth]] conspiracy theorist, as the keynote speaker to the Project's annual conference.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Two Project Censored judges resign over 9/11 controversy | journal = St. Louis Journalism Review | first = CD | last = Stelzer | date = August 1, 2007 | volume =37 | issue = 298 | pages = 20–22}}</ref>
[[File:Mickey Huff.jpg|thumb|Mickey Huff, director of Project Censored, taken in Sacramento California, 2024.]]
[https://www.projectcensored.org/mickey-huff/ Mickey Huff] of [[Diablo Valley College]] became director in 2010.<ref>{{cite news | title = Walnut Creek: 'Project Censored' leaders discuss work, new film | newspaper = The Mercury News | date = March 26, 2014  |  first =  Lou | last = Fancher | url = https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/03/26/walnut-creek-project-censored-leaders-discuss-work-new-film/ | access-date = Feb 14, 2018}}</ref> He and [https://www.projectcensored.org/andy-lee-roth/ Andy Lee Roth] (associate director, 2012-2024) extended the Project beyond Sonoma State University and expanded the Campus Affiliates Program launched in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://projectcensored.org/about-validated-independent-news/|title=About Validated Independent News -|work=Project Censored|access-date=2018-02-05|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.sonoma.edu/article/project-censored-turns-40|title=Project Censored Turns 40|date=2016-12-13|work=SSU News|access-date=2018-02-05|language=en}}</ref> The top "Censored" news stories are identified through the Campus Affiliates Program, a collaborative effort between faculty and students at many colleges and universities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Censored 2018: Press Freedoms in a "Post-Truth" World|last=Andy Lee Roth and|first=Mickey Huff|publisher=Seven Stories Press|year=2017|location=New York|pages=36, 39–40}}</ref> In 2025, [https://www.projectcensored.org/shealeigh-voitl/ Shealeigh Voitl] became associate director.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horgan |first=Kate |date=2025-03-24 |title=The Project Censored Newsletter—March 2025 |url=https://www.projectcensored.org/the-project-censored-newsletter-march-2025/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.projectcensored.org |language=en-US}}</ref>