{"id":20178667,"date":"2024-12-23T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/?p=20178667"},"modified":"2024-12-23T12:18:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T20:18:18","slug":"the-news-that-didnt-make-the-news-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/the-news-that-didnt-make-the-news-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The News That Didn\u2019t Make the News in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Paul Rosenberg<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every year, the Media Freedom Foundation comes up with a short list of the most important news stories that were underreported (or not reported at all) by mainstream media outlets. <\/em>
<\/em>The annual list, Project Censored, is described by associate director Andy Lee Roth: \u201cReaders can only appreciate the full significance of the Project\u2019s annual listing of important but underreported stories by stepping back to perceive deeper, less obvious patterns of omission in corporate news coverage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list got its start in 1976, when it was created by Carl Jensen at Sonoma State University. For Jensen, reviewing underreported stories illuminated \u201cthe suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method \u2026 that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in its society.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2000, Jensen founded the Media Freedom Foundation to further support the project\u2014and since his death in 2015, the project has continued. Paul Rosenberg, senior editor for <\/em>Random Lengths News and a columnist for <\/em>Salon, writes about the top underreported stories of 2024 below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Racial Disparities in Thousands Killed and Injured on the Job <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Working in America is becoming more dangerous, especially for minorities, according to recent studies reported on by Truthout<\/em> and Peoples Dispatch, <\/em>while the same isn\u2019t true for other developed nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workplace fatalities increased 5.7% in the 2021-2022 period covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS\u2019s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Tyler Walicek reported for Truthout<\/em>. \u201cNearly 6,000 U.S. workers died on the job,\u201d he wrote\u2014a 10-year high\u2014while \u201ca startling total of 2.8 million were injured or sickened,\u201d according to another BLS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/strong>racial disparities were sharp. The average workplace death rate was 3.7 deaths per hundred thousand full-time workers, but it was 24.3% higher (4.6 deaths) for Latinx workers and 13.5% higher (4.2 deaths) for Black workers. The majority of Latinx deaths (63.5%) were of foreign-born workers, and 40% of those were in construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The non-fatal injury rate for service workers in the South, particularly workers of color, is also alarmingly high, according to an April 2023 report by Peoples Dispatch<\/em> summarizing findings from a March 2023 survey by the Strategic Organizing Center. The poll of 347 workers, most of whom were Black, \u201cfound that a shocking 87 percent were injured on the job in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorkers are increasingly organizing to fight back against hazardous working conditions,\u201d Project Censored noted, citing a civil rights complaint against South Carolina\u2019s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (SC OSHA) filed by members of the recently formed Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) \u201cfor failing to protect Black workers from hazardous working conditions,\u201d as reported by the Post and Courier<\/em> of Charleston, South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The USSW complaint alleged that \u201cfrom 2018 to 2022, SC OSHA conducted no programmed inspections in the food\/beverage and general merchandise industries, and only one such inspection in the food services and warehousing industries.\u201d On April 4, 2023, when it filed the complaint, USSW went on a one-day strike in Georgia and the Carolinas, to expose unsafe working conditions in the service industry. It marked the anniversary of Martin Luther King\u2019s assassination while supporting a sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on Dec. 7, USSW sent a petition to federal OSHA requesting that it revoke South Carolina\u2019s state OSHA plan \u201cbecause the Plan has failed to maintain an effective enforcement program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither the BLS findings nor the conflict between the USSW and SC OSHA have received much media coverage. The BLS fatalities report was released in December 2023, with no U.S. daily newspaper coverage when Project Censored\u2019s analysis was done. There was a story on the Minnesota findings by Fox in Minneapolis-St. Paul the month the report was released. And a full story on Green Bay ABC affiliate WBAY on April 12, 2024, \u201cas part of its coverage of \u2018Work Zone Safety Awareness Week,\u2019\u201d Project Censored noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCorporate coverage of the conflict between the USSW and SC OSHA has also been scant,\u201d they stated. While independent, nonprofits like DC Report<\/em> \u201chave consistently paid<\/a> more attention,\u201d there were but two corporate examples cited covering the second action\u2014Associated Press and Bloomberg Law<\/em>\u2014but neither addressed the issue of racial disparities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. \u2018Vicious Circle\u2019 of Debt Traps Most Vulnerable Nations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Low-income countries who contributed virtually nothing to the climate crisis are caught in a pattern described as a \u201cclimate debt trap\u201d in a September 2023 World Resources Institute report authored by Natalia Alayza, Valerie Laxton and Carolyn Neunuebel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter years of pandemic, a global recession and intensifying droughts, floods and other climate change impacts, many developing countries are operating on increasingly tight budgets and at risk of defaulting on loans,\u201d they wrote. \u201cHigh-interest rates, short repayment periods and\u202f…\u202fthe coexistence of multiple crises (like a pandemic paired with natural disasters) can all make it difficult for governments to meet their debt servicing obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGlobal standards for climate resilience require immense national budgets,\u201d Project Censored noted. \u201cDeveloping countries borrow from international creditors, and as debt piles up, governments are unable to pay for essential needs, including public health programs, food security, and climate protections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, The Guardian<\/em> ran a story describing how global South nations are \u201cforced to invest in fossil fuel projects to repay debts,\u201d a process critics have characterized as a \u201cnew form of colonialism.\u201d They cited a report from anti-debt campaigners Debt Justice and partners which found that \u201cthe debt owed by global south countries has increased by 150 percent since 2011 and 54 countries are in a debt crisis, having to spend five times more on repayments than on addressing the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of an ecological debt owed to the global South for the resource exploitation that fueled the global North\u2019s development was first introduced \u201cin the lead-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,\u201d Ross noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, \u201cThe Kyoto Protocol laid the groundwork for such claims in 1997 by including the idea of \u2018common but differentiated responsibilities\u2019 among nations, but climate activists did not fully take up the call for debt justice until the Copenhagen summit in 2009,\u201d continued Ross. Prior to that summit, in 2008, NASA climatologist James Hansen estimated the U.S. historical carbon debt at 27.5% of the world total, $31,035 per capita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a \u201closs and damage\u201d fund \u201cto assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change\u201d was established at the 2022 Climate Summit, its current commitments ($800 million) fall far short of the $100 billion more each year by 2030 which the 14 developing countries on the fund\u2019s board have argued for. Some estimates place the figure much higher, \u201cat around $400 billion,\u201d according to a Euronews story last June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In <\/em>May 2023, Bloomberg\u2019s<\/em> \u201canalysis catered to the financial interests of international investors,\u201d while a December 2023 New York Times<\/em> report \u201cfocused primarily on defaults to the United States and China, with less focus on how poorer countries will combat deficits, especially as climate change escalates.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Saltwater Intrusion Imperils Water Supply<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sea-level rise is an easy-to-grasp consequence of global warming, but the most immediate threat it poses\u2014saltwater intrusion into freshwater systems\u2014has only received sporadic localized treatment in the corporate press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fall 2023, saltwater traveling from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River infiltrated the freshwater systems of the delta region, contaminating drinking and agricultural water supplies as well as inland ecosystems,\u201d Project Censored noted. \u201cThis crisis prompted a scramble to supply potable water to the region and motivated local and federal officials to issue emergency declarations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While outlets like Time<\/em>, CNN and CBS News covered the saltwater intrusion at the time, they \u201cfocused almost exclusively on the threat to coastal Louisiana,\u201d but \u201ca pair of articles published in October 2023 by Delaney Nolan for The Guardian<\/em> and [hydrogeologist] Holly Michael for The Conversation<\/em> highlighted the escalating threat of saltwater intrusion across the United States and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeep below our feet, along every coast, runs the salt line: the zone where fresh inland water meets salty seawater,\u201d Nolan wrote. \u201cThat line naturally shifts back and forth all the time, and weather events like floods and storms can push it further out. But rising seas are gradually drawing the salt line in,\u201d he warned. \u201cIn Miami, the salt line is creeping inland by about 330 feet per year. Severe drought\u2014as the Gulf coast and midwest have been experiencing this year\u2014draw the salt line even further in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeawater intrusion into groundwater is happening all over the world, but perhaps the most threatened places are communities on low-lying islands,\u201d such as the Marshall Islands, which is \u201cpredicted to be uninhabitable by the end of the century,\u201d Michael wrote. Here in the U.S., \u201cExperts said the threat was widespread but they were especially concerned about cities in Louisiana, Florida, the Northeast, and California,\u201d Nolan reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFresh water is essential for drinking, irrigation and healthy ecosystems,\u201d Michael wrote. \u201cWhen seawater moves inland, the salt it contains can wreak havoc on farmlands, ecosystems, lives and livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Time<\/em>, CNN and CBS News focused narrowly on coastal Louisiana, Project Censored noted that some news outlets, \u201cincluding Fox Weather and Axios,\u201d misreported the threat as \u201conly temporary rather than a long-term problem.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Natural Gas Industry Hid Health and Climate Risks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While gas stoves erupted as a culture war issue in 2023, reporting by Vox <\/em>and NPR (in partnership with the Climate Investigations Center) revealed a multi-decade campaign by the natural gas industry using the tobacco industry\u2019s tactics to discredit evidence of harm, thwart regulation and promote the use of gas stoves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while gas stoves are a health hazard, the amount of gas used isn\u2019t that much, but \u201chouse builders and real estate agents say many buyers demand a gas stove,\u201d which makes it more likely they\u2019ll use more high-volume appliances, \u201csuch as a furnace, water heater and clothes dryer,\u201d NPR explained. \u201cThat\u2019s why some in the industry consider the stove a \u2018gateway appliance.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a series of articles for Vox<\/em>, environmental journalist Rebecca Leber \u201cdocumented how the gas utility industry used strategies previously employed by the tobacco industry to avoid regulation and undermine scientific evidence establishing the harmful health and climate effects of gas stoves,\u201d Project Censored noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe basic scientific understanding of why gas stoves are a problem for health and the climate is on solid footing,\u201d she reported. \u201cIt\u2019s also common sense. When you have a fire in the house, you need somewhere for all that smoke to go. Combust natural gas, and it\u2019s not just smoke you need to worry about. There are dozens of other pollutants, including the greenhouse gas methane, that also fill the air.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Documents obtained by NPR and CIC tell a similar story. The industry \u201cfocused on convincing consumers and regulators that cooking with gas is as risk-free as cooking with electricity,\u201d they reported. \u201cAs the scientific evidence grew over time about the health effects from gas stoves, the industry used a playbook echoing the one that tobacco companies employed for decades to fend off regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy covering gas stoves as a culture war controversy, corporate media have ignored<\/a> the outsize role of the natural gas industry in influencing science, regulation, and consumer choice,\u201d Project Censored noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they\u2019ve focused on individual actions, local moves to phase out gas hookups for new buildings and rightwing culture war opposition to improving home appliance safety and efficiency, including the GOP House-passed \u201cHands Off Our Home Appliances Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Abortion Services Censored on Social Platforms Globally<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the first national election day after Dobbs<\/em>, PlanC, a nonprofit that provides information about access to the abortion pill, posted a TikTok video encouraging people to vote to protect reproductive rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost immediately, its account was banned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccess to online information about abortion is increasingly under threat both in the United States and around the world,\u201d the Women\u2019s Media Center reported in November 2023. \u201cBoth domestic and international reproductive health rights and justice organizations have reported facing censorship of their websites on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok as well as on Google.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governments of South Korea, Turkey and Spain have also blocked the website of Women on Web, which provides online abortion services and information in more than 200 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, abortion disinformation for fake abortion clinics remains widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within weeks of the decision, U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota wrote to Meta, Ars Technica reported, questioning what the company was doing to stop abortion censorship on their platforms. \u201cThe senators also took issue with censorship of health care workers, Ars Technica wrote, \u201cincluding a temporary account suspension of an \u2018organization dedicated to informing people in the United States about their abortion rights.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abortion disinformation is also a threat\u2014particularly the promotion of \u201ccrisis pregnancy centers,\u201d which masquerade as reproductive healthcare clinics but discourage rather than provide abortion services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s Media Center covered a June 2023 report that found these centers \u201cspent over $10 million on Google Search ads for their clinics over the past two years.\u201d Google claimed to have \u201cremoved particular ads,\u201d said Callum Hood, head of research for the report, \u201cbut they did not take action on the systemic issues with fake clinic ads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of June 2024, corporate coverage of abortion censorship has been limited. The sole CNN story it cited ran immediately after the Dobbs <\/em>decision, before most of the problems fully emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere appeared to be more corporate media focus on abortion disinformation rather than censorship,\u201d they added. \u201cIndependent reporting from Jezebel and Reproaction via Medium has done more to draw attention to this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year, the Media Freedom Foundation comes up with a short list of the most important news stories that were ignored by mainstream media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14789,"featured_media":20178669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[1490,1686],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n