Amy Goodman Quotes

Amy Goodman presents fierce arguments about media, democracy and power that push you to think deeper.

18 quotes

1. But for the media to name their coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq the same as what the Pentagon calls it-everyday seeing 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'-you have to ask: 'If this were state controlled media, how would it be any different?'

2. [The media] are using a national treasure--that's what the public airwaves are. And they have a responsibility to bring out the full diversity of opinion or lose their licenses.

3. In the meantime, it just makes it a little harder to smile. But so does the world.

4. Going to where the silence is. That is the responsibility of a journalist: giving a voice to those who have been forgotten, forsaken, and beaten down by the powerful.

5. We must build a trickle-up media that reflects the true character of this country and its people. A democratic media serving a democratic society.

6. We have a decision to make every hour of every day, and that is whether to represent the sword or the shield. Democracy now.

7. Over the first two weeks of the Donald Trump administration, Steve Bannon has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the White House. The New York Times ran an editorial posing the question, "President Bannon?" wrote, quote, "We've never witnessed a political aide move as brazenly to consolidate power as Stephen Bannon - nor have we seen one do quite so much damage so quickly to his putative boss's popular standing or pretenses of competence."

8. Whether you vote for me or you don't vote for me, I really want to be your greatest champion. And I will be your champion, whether you vote for me or not.

9. People who are against hate are not a fringe minority, not even a silent majority, but are a silenced majority, silenced by the corporate media.

10. I really do think that if for one week in the United States we saw the true face of war, we saw people's limbs sheared off, we saw kids blown apart, for one week, war would be eradicated. Instead, what we see in the U.S. media is the video war game.

11. While law-abiding Muslims are forced to hide in their homes, and animal-rights activists are labeled as terrorists for undercover filming of abusive treatment at factory farms, right-wing hate groups are free to organize, parade, arm themselves to the hilt and murder with chilling regularity. It’s time for our society to confront this very real threat.

12. Go to where the silence is and say something.

13. Independent media can go to where the silence is and break the sound barrier, doing what the corporate networks refuse to do.

14. Journalism is the only profession explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution, because journalists are supposed to be the check and balance on government. We're supposed to be holding those in power accountable. We're not supposed to be their megaphone. That's what the corporate media have become.

15. The media is absolutely essential to the functioning of a democracy. It's not our job to cozy up to power. We're supposed to be the check and balance on government.

16. The media—stenographers to power.

17. [The media can be] the greatest force for peace on the earth [for] it is how we come to understand each other.

18. A typical Ponzi scheme involves taking money from investors, then paying them off with money taken from new investors, rather than paying them from actual earnings.