With 2008 being the Chinese Year of the Rat, it seems fitting to gnaw through the Chicken-Wire Curtain built by the Chicago Media and break out stories that have been either ignored or suppressed by the major newspapers and broadcast outlets. Here are the top picks of the Chicago Daily Observer Editors for Most Underreported Stories of 2007

1) Richard Caro vs. Rod Blagojevich. As you might guess from our coverage, this one is a layup. The major media (save Dennis Byrne) has completely ignored this important constitutional case pitting Lawyer Richard Caro, Businessman Ron Gidwitz, and Attorney General Lisa Madigan against Governor Rod Blagojevich in Cook County Court, hashing out the powers of the Illinois Executive, with good deal of Chicago Style political intrigue being played out via the courts system.

2) Major changes at Chicago’s Airports. Given Chicago’s long history as the transportation hub of the United States, there are plenty of reasons to cover developments at O’Hare and Midway Airports. Unknown to our media, the planned privatization of Midway is in negotiation, and the construction at O’Hare is completely up in the air, with Federal Lawsuits and the destruction of the east side of Bensenville coming in under the radar.

3) So called “Civil Rights Activist” Fr. Michael Pfleger continues to be called upon by the Chicago Media (and the City of Chicago) as some kind of expert in community relations fighting “racism, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence”, while leading a mob calling for a suburban businessman to be “snuffed out” like a “rat”. Both the Sun Times and Tribune were there for the march. Neither of them carried the story. Admirably, WLS Radio did cover this in detail, yet WLS TV decided to bring Fr. Pfleger on as panel member on a special on violence prevention, totally ignoring his threatened violence.

4) An actual local Civil Rights activist was arrested and brought in chains before an Oklahoma court charged with circulating petitions as non residents of the state. Paul Jacob, a fellow at Chicago’s Sam Adams Alliance faces 10 years in prison for practicing the 1st amendment, in a prominent case in the eyes of the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine, yet totally ignored by the Chicago Media.

5) Governor Blagojevich has been dipping into the pensions of Illinois Teachers and State Employees for some time now. A few of his friends are indicted or facing jail time for abusing the finances of the Illinois retirement systems. Yet outside of the Civic Federation, there has been little said about the long term finances of the State Retirement Systems and the effects on current employees of using Pension funds to pay for day-to-day expenses.