Unauthorized Disclosure

'The State Of The Free Press' As We Head Into 2025

As we come to the end of another season of "Unauthorized Disclosure," host Kevin Gosztola invited Shealeigh Voitl of Project Censored to discuss the 2025 edition of their annual book, "State of The Free Press." It includes the Top 25 Censored Stories of 2023-2024. Shealeigh is Project Censored's digital and print editor. She's worked on prior editions of "State of the Free Press," and this year she worked on the 2025 edition as an editor. She also has contributed articles to Truthout, The Progressive, and Ms. Magazine. During this episode, Shealeigh talks about the impact of the United States and Israel's war on Gaza on journalism. She speaks about viewpoint transparency versus the conventional idea of journalistic objectivity. We discuss Junk Food News that dominated U.S. news media coverage in the past year—in particular, Taylor Swift. And then the conversation concludes by highlighting a few "Censored" stories from the past year.

Project 2025 & Trump's Pledge To Hunt Journalists And Their Sources (w/ Chip Gibbons)

In this episode of the podcast, host Kevin Gosztola is joined by Chip Gibbons to discuss Donald Trump, Project 2025, and what Trump's election means for journalists and their sources in U.S. government agencies. Chip is the policy director for Defending Rights and Dissent and the author of the (very) forthcoming book "The Imperial Bureau" from Verso Books. It draws from FBI records obtained through numerous freedom of information requests.

9/11 Plea Deals & the Neverending Shame of Guantanamo (w/ Andy Worthington)

Host Kevin Gosztola talks with journalist Andy Worthington about news involving 9/11 plea deals and President Joe Biden's legacy when it comes to the Guantanamo Bay prison. Andy has long been known for his work reporting on the nearly 800 men, who were detained, tortured, abused, and sent to Guantanamo as part of the global "war on terrorism." We discuss the continued secrecy by the CIA around their confinement, the men who remain indefinitely at the military prison, and the disreputable military tribunal system.

A Rare Israeli Journalist Opposed To 'The Killing Of Gaza' (w/ Gideon Levy)

Host Kevin Gosztola welcomes Israeli journalist Gideon Levy to the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast to discuss his new book from Verso, "The Killing Of Gaza: Reports On A Catastrophe" (available here). He is a distinguished and well-known dissenting voice in Israeli media. During the conversation, he describes how there are very few journalists who show interest in the ongoing war in Gaza. Gideon also addresses attacks on press freedom within Israel, such as the shutdown of Al Jazeera. He recalls how he was banned from a popular liberal-leaning current affairs program because he said Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners is as bad as Hamas' treatment of Israeli captives—or worse.

US-Israel's War On Gaza Expands To Lebanon (w/ Matthew Hoh)

Matthew Hoh, a a former United States Marine, a former State Department official who resigned in protest against the Afghanistan War, and the associate director for the Eisenhower Media Network, returns to the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast to discuss the latest terrifying developments in the Middle East. We begin with clips from the conversation that Rania Khalek had with CODEPINK about Israel's war on Lebanon. Rania started this show with host Kevin Gosztola back in 2014, and she's a longtime journalist based in Beirut. Matthew and Kevin also break down the death and destruction of the past week with a focus on the artillery that President Joe Biden's administration has supplied to Israel over the past year. *For the full interview, become a patron at Patreon.com/UnauthorizedDisclosure or subscribe to the show at TheDissenter.org