This week we swing into the new year, 2025, with Mickey engaging media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss the incoming administration, Trump 2.0, the failures of the punditocracy and what might mean for press freedom in his second term; social media and an end to so-called fact-checking; and why we will continue to need a truly independent press to keep us informed moving forward. Later in the program, media scholar Steve Macek joins the conversation, and it’s Deja Vu all over again as they revisit previously censored news stories around significant current events (including in Gaza) and how the ongoing lack of establishment media coverage around key issues contributes to low information voters and allows myriad injustices to persist at home and around the globe.

The post Pressing Issues for 2025: Trump 2.0, Media Failures, and the Fight for Press Freedom appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the program Eleanonr Goldfield speaks with Shrouq Aila, an investigative journalist, producer and researcher in Gaza. Shrouq describes the situation on the ground in Gaza, the target on her back as a journalist, what she asks of her fellow journalists in these times, and the layered struggles of being the story that you are covering.

In the second half of the program, Marine corps veteran Matthew Hoh comes back on the show to talk about his recent trip to occupied Palestine / Israel. Matt describes the parallel phases of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Israeli culture that makes entertainment out of genocide while simultaneously denying that genocide

The post Reporting Under Fire: Gaza, Genocide, and the Truth Behind the Headlines appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the show, Mickey sits down with Omar Zahzah, a Lebanese/Palestinian organizer, writer, poet, freelance journalist and assistant professor of Arab/Muslim ethnicities and diaspora studies at San Francisco State University. Omar discusses his forthcoming book from the Censored and Seven Stories presses titled Terms of Servitude:…

The post Digital Settler Colonialism, Gaza, and the Struggle for Palestinian Liberation appeared first on Project Censored.

What happens when wealthy investors buy up local news outlets? Well, in addition to gradually shutting them down and restricting what they report, ironically creating news deserts, they can also memory hole online news archives. For the first part of the program, Mickey Huff is joined by investigative reporter Peter Byrne. Byrne talks about unplugging the news and history in San Francisco, navigating the existential fragility of online news archives.

Later in the program, you’ll hear excerpts from an event held at Ithaca College in November, cosponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media, Project Looksharp, and Project Censored. Mickey Huff hosted co-editor of State of the Free Press 2025 Shaeleigh Voitl, and contributors Robin Andersen, and Steve Macek. You’ll get an overview of Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025, hear some of the top underreported news stories of the year, and much more.

The post Unplugging the News: The Fight for Local Journalism and the State of the Free Press appeared first on Project Censored.

Today in the first segment of the show, Mickey Huff speaks with associate director of Project Censored, Andy Lee Roth, and the Project’s digital and print editor, Shealeigh Voitl. They talk about Project Censored’s new book State of the Free Press 2025 that looks at the top underreported or censored news stories from the past year that corporate media censored, otherwise distorted or ignored altogether. Later in the conversation, Andy and Shealeigh talk about moving beyond fact-checking and their educator resource guide on the power of news frames, and how news framing helps shape public opinion. Later in the program, cohosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield talk about a recent piece she wrote on news literacy for activists and organizers: Critical Media Literacy provides grassroots movements with practical tools for pursuing their goals. Eleanor and Mickey also discuss the troublesome bill, HR 9495 that passed through the House recently. It is a draconian bill that would allow the Treasury Secretary to unilaterally strip a nonprofit of their status if they’re deemed a terrorist-supporting organization. This is incredibly dangerous given the political motivations of a potential Treasury Secretary to silence particular nonprofits on the basis of the focus of their message.

The post Censored News, Media Framing, and the Threat of HR 9495: A Conversation with Project Censored appeared first on Project Censored.

What does the genocide in Gaza have to do with the working class here at home? Well, quite a lot. Imperialism is a home game and the same corporations and international interests that make bank off of blood oppress the US workforce for that same bottom line. This week in a special hour interview episode, three guest experts join the Project Censored Radio show to discuss the US supply chain and war: labor educator Gifford Hartman, researcher and CGPU-UAW union member Abdullah Farooq, and 40 year rail and marine transportation veteran Fritz Edler.

The post Connecting the Dots: The War on Workers Is The War Abroad appeared first on Project Censored.

In this episode of the Project Censored Show, guest host Mischa Geracoulis, Project Censored’s curriculum development coordinator, speaks with two of the contributors to the “Media Democracy in Action” chapter from Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2024. 

In the first segment, Mischa talks with Maria Armoudian—senior lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and co-director of the Center for Climate Biodiversity and Society—about the need to rethink traditional news values in the 21st century. Focusing on issues around the climate crisis, Armoudian argues that because the media too often report climate issues as news items, they fail to communicate the urgency of these issues while normalizing a perpetual economic growth-expansion model that exacerbates these challenges.

In the second segment, media critic, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and author Jen Senko joins the program. Senko is best known for her film The Brainwashing of My Dad. Senko's work tracks the history of media in the United States, particularly the rise of hyper-partisan media, and its ongoing effects on society. Highlighting some of that history, she illuminates the calculated moves made by politicians and billionaires that have brought us to where we are today.

The post Rethinking Media Values: Climate Crisis and Hyper-Partisan Influence in the 21st Century appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the show, Eleanor sits down with an empty seat – a seat that could easily be filled by dozens if not hundreds of Kashmiri journalists and activists who cannot speak out due to the complex and constant threat of violence by the Indian government. Eleanor contextualizes the current situation in Kashmir while paralleling it to another settler colonialist struggle in Palestine, why we must connect these struggles, and how critical media literacy is vital in the case of silenced stories such as Kashmir. In the second half of the show, Ben Norton joins the program to discuss the recent BRICS summit, how our corporate media fell over itself to frame it as no big deal, the what, how and when of de-dollorization, and what the recent election means for our economy, or rather our economies – one for the rich and the one for the rest of us.

The post Silenced Voices: Kashmir, Palestine, and BRICS Uncovered appeared first on Project Censored.

Iconic consumer and civil rights activist/author Ralph Nader returns to the program to discuss his latest two books with Mickey. They unpack Nader’s analysis from Out of Darkness and Let’s Start the Revolution, which includes commentary on the need to dismantle the corporate state, boost civic engagement from the grassroots level up, and demand that dark money and billionaires be driven of the political system. Next, Mickey talks with former Project Censored director, political sociologist Peter Phillips about his new book Titans of Capital: How Concentrated Wealth Threatens Humanity.

The post Let’s Start a Revolution; Usurping the Titans of Capital appeared first on Project Censored.

Mickey's first guest this week is Project Censored's Associate Director, Andy Lee Roth. Roth is a 2024-25 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow where he is developing an "algorithmic literacy" toolkit for journalists. He explains why today's journalists need a basic understanding of the algorithms used by internet and social media tech giants to better serve the public. Issues around horse race poll coverage, shadow banning, and algorithmic gatekeeping are discussed. Then in the second half of the show, Maya Schenwar of Truthout and Lara Witt of Prism introduce the organization they co-founded, the Movement Media Alliance; they explain why social-justice-oriented media outlets should work together, both to enhance their impact and to better the working conditions for journalists in independent media.

The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists; and a New Movement Media Alliance appeared first on Project Censored.