Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! is a syndicated news and opinion radio and television program that airs on over 500 radio and television stations, on cable TV, and both satellite television networks in North America. The flagship national program of the Pacifica Radio network, it also broadcasts on community and NPR stations, public access cable television stations, Free Speech TV (channels 9410 and 9415 of the DISH Network), Link TV (channel 375 of the DirecTV satellite network), and over the internet, including as a "podcast". The program's full name is "Democracy Now! the War and Peace Report." The views of its broadcasters are generally left-wing.
Founders and Background
The program was founded in 1996 at WBAI in New York City by journalists Amy Goodman, Larry Bensky, Juan Gonzalez, Salim Muwakkil, and Julie Drizin. Amy Goodman acts as the program's host with Juan Gonzalez acting as co-host. The program is primarily concerned with issues related to war, human rights and U.S. foreign and domestic policy, attempting to provide an alternative to mainstream news coverage.
Awards
Democracy Now! and its staff have received dozens of journalism awards, including the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of two Nigerian villagers protesting an oil spill, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Prize, and the Pinnacle Award for American Women in Radio & Television.
Funding
The program is funded by listeners, viewers, and foundations. Democracy Now! does not accept donations from corporations or any government funding. The staff of the program does not accept grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting because they believe that funding from any government entity limits the independence of their programming.
Facilities
Democracy Now! is headquartered in New York City. Located in a converted firehouse building in Chinatown that is also home to documentary filmmaker Downtown Community Television studio.
The show was previously broadcast from Pacifica Radio's WBAI radio station in New York, and was relocated to the DCTV firehouse during a management conflict at the station, during 2000-2001. Since then, the show has added staff and television capability. With a television signal, the show was able to expand its reach to cable and satellite viewers.
Staff
- Amy Goodman-Host and Executive Producer
- Juan Gonzalez-Co-host
- Mike Burke-Producer
- Sharif Abdel Kouddous-Producer
- John Hamilton-Television Producer
- Elizabeth Press-Television Producer
- Yoruba Richen-Television Producer
- Frank Lopez - Television Producer
- Jen Utz - Television Producer/Distribution Manager
- Isis Phillips - Financial Manager
- Neil Shibata - Volunteer Coordinator
- Nikki Smirl - Outreach Coordinator
- Denis Moynihan - Outreach Director
- Mike Kimber - Distribution Associate
- Mike "Flip" DiFilippo - Audio Engineer
- Nick Marcilio - Engineer
- Mike Castleman - Resident Hacker
- Dave Rice - Archivist
Notable guests, interviews, and on-air debates
- Tariq Ali - Trotskyist intellectual, author of Bush in Babylon; Debated Christopher Hitchens in an on-air debate over the War in Iraq.
- Lori Berenson - Interviewed in 1999 in Peru by Amy Goodman; political activist arrested in 1995 for collaborating with the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement a Peruvian leftist guerrilla organization. It was the first time a journalist was able to interview Berenson inside the prison where she was incarcerated.
- Bill Clinton - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; 42nd President of the United States.
- Noam Chomsky - Regular guest; MIT linguistics professor and political activist.
- Robert Fisk - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; prominent and controversial British journalist who currently serves as a Middle East correspondent for The Independent.
- Christopher Hitchens-Ex-Socialist and writer for Vanity Fair, former writer for The Nation, and several other publications; Debated Tariq Ali in an on-air debate over the War in Iraq.
- Bill Moyers - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; former host of the PBS show NOW with Bill Moyers and currently the host of the PBS show Wide Angle.
- Howard Zinn - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; historian and activist; author of several books, including A People's History of the United States.
- Hugo Chávez - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; the President of Venezuela's first interview in the United States.
- Scott Ritter - Interviewed by Amy Goodman; former UN weapons inspector operating in Iraq.
See also
- WBAI
- Pacifica Radio
- Independent Media Center
- Air America Radio
- Independent Media
- Social justice
- Peace movement
External links
- Democracy Now! official website
- DCTV (John Alpert)
- Individual shows DN! audio downloads and DN! video downloads archived on Archive.org.
- Torrents of the last 3 episodes
- Podcast Directory (requires iTunes)
- Audio podcast feed
- Video podcast feed
Articles
- Ratner, Lizzy. Amy Goodman's "Empire". The Nation. May 23, 2005 issue. Retrieved May 6, 2005.