Independent journalist Amy Goodman has been on the front lines of some of the biggest stories of the past few years. She’s also been a thorn in the side of some of the world’s most powerful corporations and governments.
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Big Tech’s power
Big Tech’s monopoly on the internet
Today, a small number of corporations exercise unprecedented control over our digital lives. They decide what news and information we see, which apps we use and what we buy. They monitor our behavior, collecting massive amounts of data that they use to sell us things and influence our behavior.
This concentration of power in the hands of a few companies is often referred to as a “monopoly.” And it’s no accident that these companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — are all led by white men.
The rise of these monopolies has coincided with a decline in competition and an increase in economic inequality. In the united states the top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. And these big tech firms are among the most valuable companies in the world.
But there is one area where these companies don’t have complete control: independent media.
Independent media outlets like Democracy Now! provide an alternative to the corporate-controlled news landscape. We report on stories that are ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream media, and we give a platform to voices that are silenced or censored by Big Tech.
That’s why Big Tech is investing billions of dollars in censoring independent media and silencing dissident voices. They’re using their monopoly power to try to control the flow of information and limit our ability to hold them accountable.
We cannot allow them to succeed. Our democracy depends on it.
Big Tech’s control of the flow of information
The internet was supposed to liberate us from the control of big media companies. But increasingly, it seems like Big Tech is becoming the new gatekeeper of the information we can access.
One of the most prominent voices fighting back against this trend is Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, an independent news program that livestreams on Facebook and YouTube.
In recent years, Goodman and Democracy Now! have been at the forefront of coverage of major stories like the Dakota Access pipeline protests, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s fight to protect their water supply from an oil pipeline.
But as Goodman and her team have attempted to cover these stories, they’ve facedincreasing censorship from Big tech companies Facebook has removed Democracy Now!’s videos from its site, and YouTube has demonetized their channel, making it harder for them to generate revenue.
This censoring of independent news sources by big tech companies is a major problem, because it means that we’re increasingly getting our information from sources that are controlled by a few major corporations. And those corporations have their own agenda.
We need to be able to access independent news sources like Democracy Now! so we can get accurate information about what’s happening in the world. We need to be able to hold Big Tech accountable for their censorship. And we need to support independent media so they can continue to fight back against corporate control of our information.
Big Tech’s fear of Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is an award-winning independent journalist and the host of Democracy Now!, a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,400 stations in North America. She has been described as “the most important media figure of the progressive movement” by The Nation magazine.
Amy Goodman’s reach
Amy Goodman is an American broadcast journalist and investigative reporter. She is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on over 1,400 stations in North America. Her awards include the Thomas Merton Award, the George Polk Award, and the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award.
Amy Goodman’s credibility
Amy Goodman is an award-winning investigative journalist, syndicated columnist, and author. She is the co-founder and co-director of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,200 public television and radio stations worldwide. In 2016, Goodman was arrested while covering the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock. The U.S. government later dropped all charges against her.
Goodman’s work has been censored by social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. In 2018, Facebook removed a video of Goodman interviewing a Syrian doctor who accused the Assad government of using chemical weapons against civilians. YouTube also removed the video, but later reinstated it after public outcry.
Big tech’s fear of Amy Goodman stems from her credibility as an investigative journalist. Goodman has a long history of breaking major stories that expose corruption and injustice. She has a reputation for being fair and impartial in her reporting. Her work often goes against the interests of powerful corporations and politicians. For these reasons, Big Tech attempts to censor her work in order to protect their own interests.
Amy Goodman’s popularity
Amy Goodman is an award-winning investigative journalist, syndicated columnist, author, and the host of Democracy Now!, a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on over 1,300 stations in North America. Her work has been honored with many of journalism’s highest awards, including the National Press Club’s John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award and the Park Center for Independent Media’s I.F. Stone Lifetime Achievement Award.
Big Tech’s fear of independent media
Amy Goodman is an award-winning investigative journalist, syndicated columnist, author, and the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on over 1,400 stations in North America. She has been called “the most important public intellectual in the United States” by linguist Noam Chomsky.
The power of independent media
Since the 2016 election, big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter have been under intense scrutiny for their role in spreading disinformation and political extremism. In response, these companies have taken steps to crack down on fake news and hate speech. But there’s one type of content they’re still struggling to deal with: independent media.
Independent media outlets like Democracy Now! have long been critical of the power and influence of big tech companies. And as these companies have grown in size and influence, our coverage of them has only become more relevant.
Big tech companies are now facing a growing number of antitrust investigations from federal and state governments. And as these investigations heat up, big tech is becoming increasingly worried about independent media outlets like Democracy Now! that are not afraid to hold them accountable.
In the past year, we’ve seen Facebook publicly attack Democracy Now! and other independent news outlets, while Google has used its algorithm changes to throttle our traffic. And just last month, Twitter suspended our account for tweeting a link to one of our stories.
These attacks on independent media are only going to intensify as big tech comes under more scrutiny from regulators and the public. We need your support to keep fighting back.
The reach of independent media
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on over 1,300 stations in North America. Her reach is vast, and according to Nielsen Media Research, “Democracy Now!” is now the most popular public affairs program on U.S. television.
Goodman’s show has a simple formula: each day, she begins with a top story that she covers in-depth, followed by a segment featuring a guest expert who puts the story into context. The result is a thoughtful, informative program that challenges conventional wisdom and encourages critical thinking.
This formula has made Goodman one of the most popular and respected journalists in the world, but it has also made her a target of Big Tech giants like Facebook and Google.
These companies have used their immense power to stifle Goodman’s reach and prevent her from having the same platform as other news outlets. In doing so, they are silencing one of the most important independent voices in media today.
The popularity of independent media
Since the 2016 election, Big Tech companies have been feeling pressure to do something about the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories online. In response, they’ve begun to crack down on what they see as problem content — by, for instance, deplatforming conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Laura Loomer, or by suspending accounts that repeatedly post false information.
But there’s one type of content that these companies have been loath to touch: independent news media, like The Intercept or Democracy Now! That’s because, unlike Jones or Loomer, these outlets are respected for their investigative journalism and accurate reporting. Cracking down on them would be a PR nightmare.
It’s not that Big Tech doesn’t want to crack down on independent media. In fact, there’s evidence that Facebook has been suppressing links to stories from these outlets in its algorithm. But doing so would be a risky proposition — one that could alienate users and further damage the reputations of these companies.
