In 2005, Project Censored: Media Deomcracy in Action reported the top ten news stories censored by the YS media. One such article was Steve Weissman’s “Dead Messengers: How the US Military Threatens Journalists.” The article states that in that year forty-nine journalists were killed in Iraq, partially because the Pentagon refused to give journalists who weren’t with coalition forces basic safeguards against military action. This story implies that when a story could make the government look bad or sway popular opinion, journalists’ presences are not welcomed.

This seems to be strikingly similar to Napoleon Bonaparte’s age old statement, “"I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets." Despite often negative images the media may portray in society, its inclusion in all aspects of life must be provided in order to spur social and political discourse, humanitarian consciousness, and the inalienable democratic right of a free flow of information.

Formed in 1976, Project Censored is all about reporting on news that the popular media wants to cover up. They define censorship on their website as any outside pressure—including governmental, economic and legal pressure—that prevents a news story from being reported truthfully.

Project Censored perhaps most well-known segment is the Top 25 Censored Stories of the year, a list of stories that were the most controversial of the previous year. Let’s take a look at some of the most censored stores in 2010-2011:

1. More Soldiers Committed Suicide than Died in Combat. In 2010, 468 soldiers killed themselves while only 462 died in combat. Project Censored cites the fact that marines are forced to bag and catalog their dead comrade’s materials, as well as diagnosed and undiagnosed cases of PTSD as the reasons for many of the suicides. Perhaps this story was often covered up because it certainly doesn’t promote patriotism for the war effort from the general public or the idea of military bravery for the soldiers.
2.  Real Unemployment: One of Out Five in US. In citing unemployment rates last year, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the unemployment rate had dropped to 9% from 9.4% in January. These statistics were skewed, however, with the inclusion of temporary, seasonal work.

While the reasons for stories coming out of the US being censored are fairly self-explanatory, many of the top censored stories were about places outside of the US, including genital mutilation in Kenya and a global food shortage. It seems that the mere fact of these stories’ censorship in the US  may implicate this country as part of the problem. What other motivations could US-based forces have for censoring these kinds of stories?