"[1] The term junk food news was first used in print by Carl Jensen in the March 1983 edition of Penthouse.
As the leader of Project Censored, he had frequently faulted the media for ignoring important stories.
...news editors and directors...argued that the real issue isn't censorship—but rather a difference of opinion as to what information is important to publish or broadcast.
[1]To give this argument a fair hearing, Jensen decided to conduct a review to determine which stories the media had considered more important.
But instead of hard-hitting investigative journalism, what he discovered was the phenomenon that he termed junk food news fell into predictable categories:[1] As the flip side to its annual list of the Top 25 Censored Stories, Project Censored publishes an annual list of the Top 10 Junk Food News stories, compiled by members of the National Organization of News Ombudsmen.