News and Analysis
For The Week Ending May 12, 2000
Listen to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines or any of the individual interview segments below (All in RealAudio, needs RealPlayer 7 or RealPlayer G2).
This week we present Between The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and:
Dr. Ernest Sternglass, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine, summarizes a new study that found infant death rates near five U.S. nuclear power plants dropped immediately and dramatically after the reactors closed. The study, conducted by the New York based Radiation and Public Health Project also found a decrease in childhood cancer and deaths from birth defects. Epidemiological data from population areas around nuclear plants located in California, Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon and Wisconsin were the focus of the study.
Contact the Radiation and Public Health Project by calling 1- (800) 582-3716 or visit the Project's Web site at: www.radiation.org.
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting media analyst Steve Rendell says that ever since 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez was plucked from the waters off the coast of Florida, Thanksgiving Day, the Cuban boy has been in the spotlight of a 24-hour-a-day, three-ring media circus. He discusses mainstream media's exploitation of the boy, as well as what the coverage has under reported.
Contact FAIR at (212) 633-6700 or visit the FAIR Web site at www.fair.org
Daniel Ellsberg was a career U.S. government political analyst when, in 1971, he leaked the now famous "Pentagon Papers" to the press. The 47-volume Defense Department internal study of the U.S. role in Southeast Asian conflicts over three decades was classified top secret. The documents chronicled the lies and deceit employed by government officials to justify U.S. military intervention in the region's wars. Mr. Ellsberg, originally a strong supporter of the Vietnam war became a committed opponent, risking his career and freedom when he released these documents to the New York Times.
He was indicted by the Nixon administration for the unauthorized release of state secrets and faced a possible 115-year prison term. But the charges were dismissed in 1973 after it was discovered that President Nixon had authorized White House aides to burglarize Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in an attempt to discredit him.
World Press Review, May 2000: Russian government clamping down on ability of reporters to cover war in Chechnya.
New York Journal News, April 27, 2000: Maryknoll Sisters call for release of two soldiers convicted of raping and killing four church women in El Salvador in 1980.
Nation Magazine, April 17, 2000: Prospects for the tobacco industry under presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore.