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Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman addresses the 2010 Chicago Green Festival.
BornApril 13, 1957
Bay Shore, New York
DiedJanuary 28, 2012 (aged 54)
Queens, New York
Career
ShowDemocracy Now!
Stationover 900
NetworkPacifica Radio
StyleInvestigative journalism

Amy Goodman (April 13, 1957 – January 28, 2012) was an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. From its creation in 1996 until her death, Goodman hosted Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.

Biography

Early life

Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York on April 13, 1957 to George, an ophthalmologist, and Dorothy (née Bock) Goodman, and graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1975. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1984 with a degree in anthropology. She spent a year studying at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Democracy Now!

Main article: Democracy Now!

Goodman had been news director of Pacifica Radio station WBAI in New York City for over a decade when she co-founded Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report in 1996. Since then, Democracy Now! has been called "probably the most significant progressive news institution that has come around in some time" by professor and media critic Robert McChesney.

In 2001, the show was temporarily pulled off the air, as a result of a conflict with a group of Pacifica Radio board members and Pacifica staff members and listeners. During that time, it moved to a converted firehouse from which it broadcast until November 13, 2009. The new Democracy Now! studio is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Goodman credits the program's success to the mainstream media organizations who leave "a huge niche" for Democracy Now!

When President Bill Clinton called WBAI on Election Day 2000 for a quick get-out-the-vote message, Goodman and WBAI's Gonzalo Aburto challenged him for 28 minutes with questions about Leonard Peltier, racial profiling, the Iraq sanctions, Ralph Nader, the death penalty, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Clinton defended his administration's policies and charged Goodman with being "hostile and combative".

Investigative journalism career

Amy Goodman speaking at Power To The Peaceful Festival, San Francisco 2004.

In 1991, covering the East Timor independence movement, Goodman and fellow journalist Allan Nairn reported that they were badly beaten by Indonesian soldiers after witnessing a mass killing of Timorese demonstrators in what became known as the Santa Cruz Massacre.

In 1998, Goodman and journalist Jeremy Scahill documented Chevron Corporation's role in a confrontation between the Nigerian Army and villagers who had seized oil rigs and other equipment belonging to oil corporations. Two villagers were shot and killed during the standoff. On May 28, 1998, the company provided helicopter transport to the Nigerian Navy and Mobile Police (MOPOL) to their Parabe oil platform which had been occupied by villagers who accused the company of contaminating their land. Soon after landing, the Nigerian military shot and killed two of the protesters, Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu, and wounded 11 others. Chevron spokesperson Sola Omole acknowledged that the company transported the troops, and that use of troops was at the request of Chevron's management. The documentary, "Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship", won the George Polk Award in 1998.

Michael Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, said, "She's not an editorialist. She sticks to the facts... She provides points of view that make you think, and she comes at it by saying: 'Who are we not hearing from in the traditional media?'"

Arrest at 2008 Republican Convention

During the 2008 Republican National Convention, several of Goodman's colleagues from Democracy Now! were arrested and detained by police while reporting on an anti-war protest outside the RNC. While trying to ascertain the status of her colleagues, Goodman herself was arrested and held, accused of obstructing a legal process and interfering with a police officer, while fellow Democracy Now! producers including reporter Sharif Abdel Kouddous were held on charges of probable cause for riot. The arrests of the producers were videotaped. Goodman and her colleagues were later released, and City Attorney John Choi indicated that the charges would be dropped. Goodman's (et al) civil lawsuit against the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments and the Secret Service resulted in a $100,000 settlement, as well as an agreement to educate officers in First Amendment rights of press and public.

Douglas border crossing incident

On November 25, 2009, Goodman was detained for approximately 90 minutes at the Douglas border crossing into Canada while en route to a scheduled meeting at the Vancouver Public Library. During an interview of her and her colleagues Immigration officials asked questions pertaining to their intended topics of discussion at the meeting. They wanted to know whether she would be speaking about the 2010 Olympic Games to be held in Canada.

"I was completely surprised by what he was asking and did not know what he was getting at. I'm an anti-sports fan," she told a CBC Radio interviewer. "At Democracy Now, we don't cover sports much."

Goodman was eventually permitted to enter Canada after the customs authorities took four photographs of her and stapled a "control document" into her passport demanding that she leave Canada within 48 hours. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann commented: "If you‘re that desperate to prevent criticism of some Olympic games, you shouldn‘t detain a noted commentator and write her scripts for her."

Dave Zirin of the Huffington Post quotes Derrick O'Keefe, co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance, as saying: "It's pretty unlikely that the harassment of a well-known and respected journalist like Amy Goodman about whether she might be speaking about the Olympics was the initiative of one over-zealous, bad-apple Canadian border guard. This looks like a clear sign of the chill that the IOC and the Games' local corporate boosters want to put out against any potential dissent."

Death

Goodman died at 9:30 in the morning of Saturday, January 28, 2012 from complications relating to Bells Palsy, a disorder she was diagnosed with in 2007. She was fifty four years old.

Recognition

Goodman has received dozens of awards for her work, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award. In 2001, she declined to accept the Overseas Press Club Award, in protest of the group's pledge not to ask questions of keynote speaker Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and because the OPC was honoring Indonesia for their improved treatment of journalists despite the fact that its forces had recently beaten and killed reporters in occupied East Timor.

On October 2, 2004, Goodman was presented the Islamic Community Award for Journalism by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In 2006 she received the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship.

On October 1, 2008, Goodman was named as a recipient of the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, and often refers to it as the "Alternative Nobel Prize". The Right Livelihood Award Foundation cited her work in "developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media." The prize was awarded in the Swedish Parliament on December 8, 2008.

On March 31, 2009, Goodman was the recipient (along with Glenn Greenwald) of the first Izzy Awards for independent media, named after journalist I. F. Stone. The award is presented by Ithaca College's Park Center for Independent Media.

Books

  • 2004 — The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them co-written with her brother, Mother Jones reporter David Goodman. ISBN 1-4013-0799-X
  • 2006 — Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back (also with David Goodman). She appeared on the Colbert Report on October 5, 2006 to promote the book. ISBN 1-4013-0293-9
  • 2008 — Standing up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (also with David Goodman) details the capabilities of ordinary citizens to enact change. Was on the New York Times bestseller list. ISBN 1-4013-2288-3
  • 2009 — Breaking the Sound Barrier (with a preface by journalist Bill Moyers), an anthology of columns written for King Features Syndicate. In her first piece she wrote: "My column will include voices so often excluded, people whose views the media mostly ignore, issues they distort and even ridicule." ISBN 1-931859-99-X

Film

In 2006, Goodman narrated the film One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern. Directed by Stephen Vittoria, the documentary chronicles the life and times of George McGovern, focusing on his failed 1972 bid for the presidency. The film features McGovern, Gloria Steinem, Gore Vidal, Warren Beatty, Howard Zinn, Ron Kovic, and Dick Gregory. The film won the Sarasota Film Festival's award for "Best Documentary Feature."

Goodman's and Juan Gonzalez's voices are used for the voice over of news reporting on Hurricane Katrina in the opening montage of New Orleans at the beginning of the 2009 action-drama film Streets of Blood starring Val Kilmer, 50 Cent, Michael Biehn and Sharon Stone.

References

  1. Peace Correspondent: 'Democracy Now!' Host Amy Goodman Is Making Her Voice Heard on Iraq by Michael Powell, Washington Post, March 10, 2003
  2. Dorothy Goodman Obituary
  3. Lamb, Brian (June 6, 2004). "The Exception to the Rulers". Booknotes. C-SPAn. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  4. Amy Goodman To Speak At COA
  5. ^ Ratner, Lizzy (May 23, 2005). "Amy Goodman's 'Empire'". The Nation.
  6. Block, Jennifer. "A Dose of Democracy, Now: WBAI Listeners Get Their Station Back". Village Voice.
  7. Andy Worthington Archive for November, 2009
  8. Democracy Now! Exclusive Interview with President Bill Clinton, Democracy Now!, November 8, 2000. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  9. Bill Clinton Loses His Cool in Democracy Now! Interview on Everything But Monica, Democracy Now!, June 22, 2004. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  10. Massacre: The Story of East Timor, Democracy Now!, November 12, 1997. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  11. Drilling and Killing, Democracy Now!, July 11, 2003. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  12. Tanya Barrientos, "She’s taking the watchdog to task", Philadelphia Inquirer, May 13, 2004
  13. "Amy Goodman, Others Detained Outside RNC". The Nation. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  14. Garofoli, Joe (September 2, 2008). "Scenes from St. Paul -- Democracy Now's Amy Goodman arrested". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  15. "Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman arrested at RNC protest". Minnesota Public Radio. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  16. "Amy Goodman's Arrest + Press Conference asked about arrest". September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  17. "Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC". press release. Democracy Now!. September 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  18. Williams, Chris (September 19, 2008). "No charges for reporters arrested in GOP protests". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  19. "Settlement Reached Over Arrest of Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Producers at 2008 GOP Convention". Democracy Now!. October 03, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. Fung, Katherine (October 03, 2011). "Amy Goodman, 'Democracy Now!' Settle Lawsuit Over 2008 Republican National Convention Arrests". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2011-10-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. "Six-Figure Settlement Reached in Federal Lawsuit Challenging Police and Secret Service Crackdown on Democracy Now! Journalists". Center for Constitutional Rights. October 03, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. "Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border, Questioned About Speech…and 2010 Olympics", Democracy Now!, 30 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  23. ^ Kathryn Gretzinger, Interview with Amy Goodman, CBC Early Edition, 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-03
  24. Kathy Tomlinson, "US journalist grilled at Canada border crossing", CBC News, November 26, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  25. "'Countdown with Keith Olbermann', November 30, 2009". MSNBC. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  26. "Amy Goodman and Canada's Olympic Paranoia", Huffington Post blog, 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  27. Democracy Now!: Staff/Awards
  28. Robert F Kennedy Memorial: 25th Annual Journalism Awards
  29. George Polk Awards: Previous Winners
  30. Pacifica Rejects Overseas Press Club Award, Democracy Now!, April 23, 1999. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  31. "CAIR Holds Its 10th Annual Banquet With Prominent Guest Speakers", Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2004, pages 58-59. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  32. Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, official website.
  33. Right Livelihood Award: 2008 - Amy Goodman
  34. "2008 Right Livelihood Awards honour champions of independent journalism, peace-building and social justice" (press release from the Right Livelihood Award Foundation)
  35. Glenn Greenwald And Amy Goodman Share Inaugural Izzy Award For Independent Media
  36. "Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman To Write Weekly Newspaper Column", King Features press release, October 24, 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-02.

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