The Founding Fathers believed that a free press was essential to a free society and they built that protection into the First Amendment. Even today, there are many who believe that the only thing that keeps us free is a vigorous fourth estate. However, as the number of information outlets increases exponentially, it seems that many stories get lost, ignored, or suppressed, either because they are seen as threatening to the corporate state or because of a dumbing down of news. CENSORED is an annual review of the media that lists the 25 top stories or issues not covered, for various reasons, by mainstream media in proportion to their importance. (Many of the stories were covered by the alternative media.) As with previous annuals, CENSORED 2005 contains articles analyzing aspects of media influence and control. (Here, Norman Solomon and Stephanie Dyer address, respectively, the state of the media and cross-ownership in broadcasting.) CENSORED 2005 is prepared under the aegis of Project Censored, a research group that monitors the press and educates the public. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.