Democracy Now! CL talks with Amy Goodman

"I’m in Flagstaff. We just finished our broadcast, did an event here last night. In a few minutes, we race off to ...." As Amy Goodman runs off a stream of American cities where she will appear in the next few days as part of her 100-city book tour, she sounds surprised that she even remembers them all.

Goodman, the host and executive producer of "Democracy Now!" a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide, is a force of nature and superhero of progressive journalism. Her current whirlwind schedule involves book events, nightly lectures, and morning productions of her daily newscast "Democracy Now!" 

We caught up with her last Thursday on the phone while she was in Arizona to discuss her work schedule, bias in journalism, and the state of American democracy. Some 15 minutes later Goodman broke in mid-question: “I'm going to have to go,” she said. "I'm incredibly sorry, because they're pounding at the door to say I have to move on." And with that, my phone clicked and she was gone.

Goodman comes to Atlanta on Tuesday for a benefit for Atlanta’s other progressive superheroes WRFG (89.3-FM), which broadcasts "Democracy Now!" weekdays from 5 to 6 pm. She will give a talk followed by a book signing ($10. The event goes from 7- 9 p.m. Tues., May 3. First Iconium Baptist Church, 542 Moreland Avenue SE.) Or buy Goodman's new book Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America and hang out with her and co-authors Denis Moynihan and David Goodman at the VIP reception from 5-6:30 p.m. for $50. Why not? She is a legend and it benefits a good cause.

If you have never listened to "Democracy Now!," give it a listen. Your idea of media and journalism might be forever changed. An edited and condensed transcript of our conversation is below.

Joeff: What is a day in your life like when you're on the road?
Amy Goodman: It's actually very interesting, because everyday we are traveling we're also broadcasting the show from wherever we are. Today, it was at Northern Arizona University and the students were our crew. The show began at 5 a.m. because it's 8 eastern standard time, and we not only talk about global issues but also what's happening locally. It so happens, this week eight students were arrested as they occupied an administration building calling for the university to divest from fossil fuels and that protest is ongoing. We just bring out the issues wherever we are.

Photo credit:

Joeff: How many people are on the staff of "Democracy Now!"?
Amy Goodman: About 25 people.

Joeff: How would you describe "Democracy Now!"'s perspective on the news?
Amy Goodman: "Democracy Now" began 20 years ago as the only daily election show in public broadcasting on nine community radio stations. We thought we would wrap up at the end of the election cycle.... The day after election there was more demand for the program than even before. I think that's because of our philosophy of going to where the silence is. Going to the grassroots. Which, by the way, is rather noisy. People are speaking out. It just doesn't hit the corporate-media radar screen. It's these authentic voices on "Democracy Now!" that I think are what people are hungry for. It's a testament to the desire to hear people speaking for themselves, to go to the heart of the story. Instead of those typical pundits you get on all the networks who know so little about so much, explaining the world to us and getting it so wrong.

Joeff: Why do you think more journalists don't report from that perspective?
Amy Goodman: I can't say why or why not. What I can say is, what they end up doing and the effect that it has. You look at this absolutely pivotal presidential year, 2016. If you watch the networks, you've got these fast, flashy graphics illuminating the latest poll. I say we should have an electoral season without polls. Why does it matter what our neighbors think, what your doctor thinks, what the gas station attendant thinks? What matters is what you think. That takes learning about the issues, a media that delves into and investigates those issues, looks at the record, and looks at the promises the politicians make. The polls create this kind of horse-race coverage. Then when the actual primary or caucus happens and the polls are wrong, media spends the next period of time talking about how they got it so wrong. Instead, actual primaries and caucuses are polls. That's all we should have. At the end of the day of a primary, you learn what's the demographic breakdown, racial breakdown, age breakdown. That's very interesting. It's not predicting. It is actually fact-based.

I also think, the big untold story is how few people vote even in this galvanized election year — less than 20 percent. More than 80 percent of people are often not voting. It's almost as if the candidates don't have to spend their time competing with another candidate, but simply going for people who aren't voting. The obstacles that are placed in people's way are unacceptable. We're seeing the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act. People who have, for example, had brushes with the criminal justice system. In some states, if you went to prison for a felony you can never vote in your life again. In other places, it's a matter of if you're on probation or parole. It can be very difficult to even figure out whether you can vote. Then you've got places like Maine and Vermont where prisoners can vote from jail.

I just think that we're talking about millions of people who are disenfranchised. Not to mention the increasing voter ID laws. In Texas a student ID is not valid but you can present a gun license. This kind of selection of who can vote and who can't is unacceptable, un-American.

Joeff: Do you vote?
Amy Goodman: Yes.

Joeff: This year, are you going to be driven by fear or hope when you vote in the presidential election?
Amy Goodman: chuckles Well, let's see what happens. What matters the most is that people are able to vote. We're definitely talking about voter ID laws. In this country, why don't we have a day off for voting so people actually are free to go and vote? In other countries, the vast majority of people vote. Why not the Unites States? It seems that there's this increasing series of obstacles put in their way. Why not have weekend voting?

Joeff: Do you still believe in American democracy? Do you think it works?
Amy Goodman: I believe in the movements that make this country great. That's what we've chronicled for 20 years. We've just written this book on our 20 years of coverage called Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America.

Look at the effect that the Black Lives Matter movement is having, the Immigrant's Rights movement is having, the movement for LGBTQ equality. These movements ... the peace movement, Women's Rights movement, anti-violence movement, the environmental movement that is growing in this country. It's much more developed in the rest of the world. People are on the front lines of climate change.

In this country, you have the millions of dollars poured in by oil barons, like the Koch brothers, to obfuscate on the issue of climate change when the science is completely settled. In fact, the only debate should be what we can do about it. In the rest of the world that's what the debate is, you know, what's the best, most effective way to deal and to mitigate against it. In this country, the debate is around whether human beings are involved in climate change. The science is settled. It's as if every time we've talked about the planet earth, we've run on someone from the Flat Earth Society for balance. It's unacceptable. We need a media that is not brought to us by the oil companies, the gas companies, the nuclear companies when we cover climate change, not brought to us by the weapons manufacturers when we cover war, not brought to us by the insurance industry or big pharma when we talk about healthcare. What gives me hope? It's the movements. People banding together demanding change. It is absolutely critical that we have a media that provides a forum for these kinds of discussions.

Joeff: What are some other media besides "Democracy Now!" that you respect or would suggest our readers read or watch?
Amy Goodman: There are so many different news outlets around the country and around the world. The Guardian is a very important publication. The Intercept founded by Glen Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and my colleague, Jeremy Scahill, delving into issues like privacy and documents that are so important in illuminating our government policy right now. Your newspaper Creative Loafing is very important.

There's local media and there's global media. Both are extremely important. Local media is so important, because that's where people live and people have to first be engaged at the local level and know what's happening in their communities. It has to start at home. It's not just websites. It's television. It's radio. It's not just newspapers. We are on a 100-city tour raising money for community radio stations and television stations. We're coming to Atlanta. We'll be doing a fundraiser for WRFG, for Radio Free Georgia, and how important that is. We at "Democracy Now!" got a call from WRFG. They said that they had gotten, during one of their fundraising drives, a $65 contribution from 13 people behind bars in prison. Each of them had pledged five dollars, hungry for independent information from prison.

That's ultimately what will save us. People engaged in the world and a media that provides a forum for them to be heard and to hear new ideas.

Joeff: Do you believe in the idea of, say, unbiased journalism?
Amy Goodman: I think every journalist has their beliefs. I think what's very important is that we are fair and accurate. That's what's most important. If you look at the elite journalists in this country, I know all of their views on all the different issues. They talk about them all the time. What matters is that if someone comes on your show and you're interviewing them, that they feel that they're views were accurately represented.

Joeff: Okay. Who do you think was the best American president since 1945?
Amy Goodman: I couldn't comment on that right now.

Joeff: Oh, come on.
Amy Goodman: I will say that—

Joeff: Who was the second best?
Amy Goodman: What I will say, though, is that when people ask me to assess a president, I am much more interested in looking at the movements. The movements that pressure. Yes, it's the most powerful position on earth. That person who occupies that position is extremely powerful. But what matters most is the movements that press them. For example, when you look at President Obama, you think of all the different movements that elected him.

You look at all the movements that I mentioned earlier. You look at the Immigrants Rights movement, the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement. I think the reason he was even a candidate for president and the democratic nominee, the main difference between him and Hillary Clinton, was supporting the Iraq War. All these different movements elected him. Then the question is what happened when he got elected. I think that people were exhausted. They had accomplished something historic. The first African-American president in a land with a legacy of slavery.

Also, they don't want to contribute to the racist inaudible movement that was led by the Republican front-runner Donald Trump saying, "Look at President Obama. He couldn't be from this country." Othering him. Which was, to say the least, racist. People didn't want to contribute to that and they stepped back from pushing for the issues that they had elected him for. Ultimately, that's what counts, is movements moving forward. In the case of President Obama, I think people felt they had hit their head against a wall for so long. His election changed that wall into a door, but the door was only opened a crack. The question was whether these movements could kick it open or would it be slammed shut. On so many issues people are now galvanized, working harder, to press forward.

Joeff: Why do you—
Amy Goodman: I'm going to have to go — I'm incredibly sorry — because they're pounding at the door to say I have to move on.

Joeff: OK.
Amy Goodman: I definitely appreciate you taking this time to do this.