Democracy Now!

File:Democracy Now Audio Podcast Cover.jpg

Democracy Now!, also called Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report, Democracy Now Independent Global News, or Democracy News, was founded on February 19, 1996, at WBAI in New York City by journalists Amy Goodman, Juan González, Larry Bensky, Salim Muwakkil, and Julie Drizin.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/shows/1996/2/19 |title=The First Democracy Now! Show |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=March 5, 2008 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517134845/https://www.democracynow.org/shows/1996/2/19 |url-status=live }} It originally aired on five Pacifica Radio stations. Goodman is the program's principal host, with Juan González and Nermeen Shaikh as frequent co-hosts. Jeremy Scahill, an investigative reporter and co-founding editor for The Intercept and Drop Site News,{{Cite web |title=Staff: Jeremy Scahill |website=The Intercept |url=https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/jeremy-scahill/ |access-date=November 14, 2016 |archive-date=February 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140210214405/https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/jeremy-scahill/ |url-status=live }} has been a frequent contributor since 1997.

The show covered the Seattle protests (1999) targeting the World Trade Organization.

Democracy Now! partnered with Free Speech TV (FSTV) and Deep Dish Television to cover the 2000 Democratic National Convention.{{harvnb|Fish|2017|p=98.}} The event marked a turning point for Democracy Now!, as in addition to its presence on radio, it became a television show.{{harvnb|Fish|2012|p=109.}} From then onward, Democracy Now! has had their content promoted and broadcast on FSTV.{{cite thesis|last=Fish|first=Adam|year=2012|title=Reforming the American Public Sphere: The Media Reform Models of Progressive Television Journalists in the Era of Internet Convergence and Neoliberalism.|type=PhD|publisher=University of California|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt2f79s7kh/qt2f79s7kh.pdf|access-date=February 24, 2020|pages=109, 118|archive-date=February 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225032246/https://escholarship.org/content/qt2f79s7kh/qt2f79s7kh.pdf|url-status=live}}

Democracy Now! began broadcasting on television every weekday shortly after September 11, 2001, and is the only public medium in the U.S. that airs simultaneously on satellite and cable television, radio, and the internet.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/about/history |title=History & Highlights |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=June 16, 2013 |archive-date=June 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617004036/http://www.democracynow.org/about/history |url-status=live }}

Democracy Now! has been critical of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.{{harvnb|Marmura|2018|p=100.}} After data disclosures by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks regarding the TPP in 2010, Democracy Now! has given a significant media platform and extensively covered them since, and like some other news networks cooperated with its leader Julian Assange.{{harvnb|Marmura|2018|pp=87, 99, 124.}} Coverage of WikiLeaks by Democracy Now! was sympathetic.{{cite book|last=Marmura|first=Stephen M. E.|title=The WikiLeaks Paradigm: Paradoxes and Revelations|year=2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319971391|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iE1tDwAAQBAJ&q=Democracy+Now%21&pg=PP5|pages=99–100|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=January 19, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119194122/https://books.google.com/books?id=iE1tDwAAQBAJ&q=Democracy+Now!&pg=PP5#v=snippet&q=Democracy%20Now!&f=false|url-status=live}}

In 2011, reporter Sharif Abdel Kouddous covered the Egyptian revolution for Democracy Now!.{{harvnb|Fish|2017|p=170.}}

On February 19, 2016, Democracy Now! marked 20 years on the air with an hour-long retrospective look back at "two decades of independent, unembedded news", with highlights chosen from over 5,000 episodes.{{cite news |title=Democracy Now! Turns 20: A Freewheeling Look Back at Two Decades of Independent, Unembedded News |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/19/democracy_now_turns_20_a_freewheeling |work=Democracy Now! |date=February 19, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-date=September 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909190601/http://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/19/democracy_now_turns_20_a_freewheeling |url-status=live }} Amy Goodman also published a book entitled Democracy Now!: 20 Years Covering the Movements Changing America,{{cite news |title=Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America |url=http://www.democracynow.org/books/democracy_now |access-date=September 6, 2016 |work=Democracy Now! |archive-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904124256/http://www.democracynow.org/books/democracy_now |url-status=live }} and launched a 100-city tour across the United States to mark the 20th anniversary of Democracy Now!, with scheduled broadcasts of the show recorded during her travels.{{cite news |title=Amy Goodman on the Road: Updates on Democracy Now's 20th Anniversary 100-City Tour |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/13/amy_goodman_on_the_road_updates |work=Democracy Now! |date=April 13, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-date=December 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219171957/https://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/13/amy_goodman_on_the_road_updates |url-status=dead }}

File:DCTV-DN-firehouse-800x600.jpg firehouse building (a converted firehouse) in New York City's Chinatown.]]

Democracy Now! began as a radio program broadcast from the studios of WBAI, a local Pacifica Radio station in New York City. In early September 2001, amid a months-long debate over the mission and management of Pacifica, Democracy Now! was forced out of the WBAI studios. Goodman took the program to the Downtown Community Television Center located in a converted firehouse building in New York City's Chinatown, where the program began to be televised.{{cite web |last1=Ratner |first1=Lizzy |title=Amy Goodman's 'Empire' How a prospective biochemist became a muckraker and champion of media reform |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0506-22.htm |website=commondreams.org |access-date=July 23, 2014 |date=May 6, 2005 |archive-date=May 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508002429/http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0506-22.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Farewell to the Firehouse: After 8 Years at Downtown Community Television Landmark, Democracy Now! Moves to New Home |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/13/firehouse |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=February 8, 2014 |author=Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez |date=November 13, 2009 |archive-date=February 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207182842/http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/13/firehouse |url-status=live }} Only a few days later on September 11, 2001 Democracy Now! was the closest national broadcast to Ground Zero. On that day Goodman and colleagues continued reporting beyond their scheduled hour-long time slot in what became an eight-hour marathon broadcast. Following 9/11, in addition to radio and television, Democracy Now! expanded their multimedia reach to include cable, satellite radio, Internet, and podcasts.

In November 2009, Democracy Now! left their broadcast studio in the converted DCTV firehouse, where they had broadcast for eight years, and moved to a repurposed graphic arts building in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. In 2010, the new 8,500-square-foot{{cite web |title=Democracy Now! Broadcast Studio Targeting LEED-CI Platinum at 207 West 25th Street |url=http://www.greenbuildingsnyc.com/2009/07/06/democracy-now-broadcast-studio-targeting-leed-ci-platinum-at-207-west-25th-street/ |publisher=Green Buildings NYC |access-date=February 8, 2014 |date=July 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222032513/http://www.greenbuildingsnyc.com/2009/07/06/democracy-now-broadcast-studio-targeting-leed-ci-platinum-at-207-west-25th-street/ |archive-date=February 22, 2014}} Democracy Now! studio became the first radio or television studio in the nation to receive LEED Platinum certification,{{cite web |last=Holland |first=Ben |title=Democracy Now! Goes Green |url=http://www.rmi.org/DemocracyNowGoesGreen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208145647/http://www.rmi.org/DemocracyNowGoesGreen |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |publisher=Rocky Mountain Institute |access-date=February 8, 2014 |date=August 2010}}{{cite web |title=LEED Certification—Democracy Now! |url=http://www.ers-inc.com/index.php/projects/sustainable-buildings/leed-certification-democracy-now |publisher=Energy Resource Solutions |access-date=February 8, 2014 |year=2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131052916/http://www.ers-inc.com/index.php/projects/sustainable-buildings/leed-certification-democracy-now |archive-date=January 31, 2014}} the highest rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Democracy Now! is the flagship program of the Pacifica Radio network.{{cite web |url=http://wbai.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=406&Itemid=42 |title=WBAI, New York – 99.5 FM Pacifica Radio – Democracy Now! |publisher=WBAI |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=July 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703170602/https://www.wbai.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=406&Itemid=42 |url-status=live }} It also airs on several NPR member stations. The television simulcast airs on public-access television and several PBS stations; by satellite on Free Speech TV and Link TV, and free-to-air on C Band.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/get_involved/satellite |title=Satellite |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=November 17, 2008 |archive-date=May 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516233745/https://www.democracynow.org/get_involved/satellite |url-status=dead }}{{cite book|last=Fish|first=Adam|title=Technoliberalism and the end of participatory culture in the United States|year=2017|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319312569|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdKyDgAAQBAJ&q=Democracy+Now%21|pages=65, 98|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=January 19, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119194032/https://books.google.com/books?id=SdKyDgAAQBAJ&q=Democracy+Now!#v=snippet&q=Democracy%20Now!&f=false|url-status=live}} Democracy Now! is also available on the Internet as downloadable and streaming audio and video.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/15/stream |title=Democracy Now! Listen/Watch Today's Show |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=January 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117192136/https://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/15/stream |url-status=live }} In total, nearly 1,400 television and radio stations broadcast Democracy Now! worldwide.{{cite news |last1=Lamb |first1=Brian |title=Q & A with Amy Goodman |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?407176-1/qa-amy-goodman |access-date=September 10, 2016 |agency=C-SPAN |date=March 25, 2016 |quote=in the hallowed halls, they're not in touch |archive-date=July 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709164807/http://www.c-span.org/video/?407176-1/qa-amy-goodman |url-status=live }}

{{Quote box

| quote = I think it's probably the most significant progressive news institution that has come around in some time.

| source = Robert W. McChesney, quoted in The Nation{{cite news |title=Amy Goodman's 'Empire' |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/amy-goodmans-empire |access-date=October 23, 2011 |newspaper=The Nation |date=May 23, 2005 |author=Lizzy Ratner |quote=Goodman herself lays the credit--or blame--for the program's success squarely at the well-rested feet of the mainstream newsmakers who, she said, leave "a huge niche" for Democracy Now! "They just mine this small circle of blowhards who know so little about so much. And yet it's just the basic tenets of good journalism that instead of this small circle of pundits, you talk to people who live at the target end of the policy," |archive-date=July 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730120518/https://www.thenation.com/article/amy-goodmans-empire/ |url-status=live }}

| width = 25%

| align = right

}}

Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television;{{cite web |url=http://kingfeatures.com/2007/03/amy-goodman-wins-gracie-award%C2%AE-from-american-women-in-radio-television/ |title=Amy Goodman Wins Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television |publisher=King Features |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120050710/http://kingfeatures.com/2007/03/amy-goodman-wins-gracie-award%C2%AE-from-american-women-in-radio-television/ |url-status=live }} 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;{{cite press release |url=http://www.liu.edu/About/News/Univ-Ctr-PR/Pre-2008/February/GP-Press-Release-Feb-1999.aspx |title=Long Island University Announces Winners of 1998 George Polk Awards |publisher=Long Island University |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005505/http://www.liu.edu/About/News/Univ-Ctr-PR/Pre-2008/February/GP-Press-Release-Feb-1999.aspx |url-status=live }} and Goodman with Allan Nairn won Robert F. Kennedy Memorial's First Prize in International Radio for their 1993 report, Massacre: The Story of East Timor, which involved first-hand coverage of genocide during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.{{cite web |url=http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1993 |title=25th Annual Awards – 1993 |publisher=Robert F Kennedy Memorial |access-date=August 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927040958/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1993 |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}

On October 1, 2008, Goodman was named as a recipient of the 2008 Right Livelihood Award,{{cite web |url=http://www.rightlivelihood.org/goodman.html |title=Amy Goodman |work=Right Livelihood Award |year=2008 |access-date=April 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708050530/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/goodman.html |archive-date=July 8, 2009}} in connection with her years of work establishing Democracy Now! and in 2009, she, like her frequent guest Glenn Greenwald, was awarded the first annual Izzy Award (named after journalist I. F. "Izzy" Stone) for "special achievement in independent media".{{cite web |url=http://www.ithaca.edu/news/release.php?id=2646 |title=Glenn Greenwald And Amy Goodman Share Inaugural Izzy Award For Independent Media |access-date=March 12, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305151154/http://www.ithaca.edu/news/release.php?id=2646 |archive-date=March 5, 2009 |date=April 3, 2009 |website=Ithaca College Office of Media Relations }} Her co-host Juan González was inducted into the New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' Hall of Fame on November 19, 2015.{{cite web |title= List of Hall of Fame Honorees |url=http://www.deadlineclub.org/about-dc/deadline-club-hall-of-fame/list-of-hall-of-fame-honorees |website=Deadline Club |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222200927/http://deadlineclub.org/about-dc/deadline-club-hall-of-fame/list-of-hall-of-fame-honorees/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=The Deadline Club's Hall of Fame |url=http://www.deadlineclub.org/about-dc/deadline-club-hall-of-fame |website=Deadline Club |publisher=NY Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222200922/http://deadlineclub.org/about-dc/deadline-club-hall-of-fame/ |url-status=dead }}

Three journalists with Democracy Now!—including principal host Amy Goodman, and news producers Nicole Salazar and Sharif Abdel Kouddous—were detained by police during their reporting on the 2008 Republican National Convention protests in Saint Paul, Minnesota.{{cite news |url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/352466/amy_goodman_others_detained_outside_rnc |title=Amy Goodman, Others Detained Outside RNC |date=September 1, 2008 |work=The Nation |access-date=September 2, 2008 |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090326173858/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/352466/amy_goodman_others_detained_outside_rnc |url-status=live }} Salazar was filming as officers in full riot gear charged her area. As she yelled "Press!" she was knocked down and told to put her face in the ground while another officer dragged her backward by her leg across the pavement. The video footage of the incident was immediately posted on the Internet, leading to a large public outcry against her arrest. When a second producer, Kouddous, approached, he too was arrested, and charged with a felony. According to a press release by Democracy Now!, Goodman herself was arrested after confronting officers regarding the arrest of her colleagues. The officers had established a line of "crowd control", and ordered Goodman to move back. Goodman claims she was arrested after being pulled through the police line by an officer, and subsequently (as well as Kouddous) had her press credentials for the convention physically stripped from her by a Secret Service agent.{{cite news |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/democracy-now-host-and-produce.html |title=Democracy Now! Host and Producers Arrested at Republican Convention |date=September 1, 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 30, 2013 |archive-date=October 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023005613/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/democracy-now-host-and-produce.html |url-status=dead }} All were held on charges of "probable cause for riot".{{cite web |url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/loophole/archive/2008/09/democracy_now_host_amy_goodman.shtml |title=Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman arrested at RNC protest |date=September 1, 2008 |work=Minnesota Public Radio |access-date=September 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902173612/http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/loophole/archive/2008/09/democracy_now_host_amy_goodman.shtml |archive-date=September 2, 2008}} A statement was later released by the city announcing that all "misdemeanor charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists" would be dropped. The felony charges against Salazar and Kouddous were also dropped.{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2010/05/05/us_gop_convention_arrests_goodman/ |title=Journalists file lawsuit in GOP convention arrests |first=Steve |last=Karnowski |work=Salon |agency=Associated Press |date=May 5, 2010 |access-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-date=June 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607002021/http://www.salon.com/2010/05/05/us_gop_convention_arrests_goodman/ |url-status=live }}

Goodman, Salazar, and Kouddous subsequently filed a lawsuit against the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis as well as other defendants. According to Baher Asmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights, "[a]ll three plaintiffs that are journalists with Democracy Now reached a final settlement with the city of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the United States Secret Service, that will resolve the claims that they had against them from unlawful and quite violent arrests." The settlement includes $100,000 in compensation and a promise of police training.{{cite news |url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/03/radio-host-wins-settlement-against-twin-cities-police |title=Radio host wins settlement against Twin Cities police |first=Tim |last=Nelson |work=Minnesota Public Radio |date=October 3, 2011 |access-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120204432/http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/03/radio-host-wins-settlement-against-twin-cities-police |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Dakota Access Pipeline protests}}

In September 2016, an arrest warrant for criminal trespass was issued for Amy Goodman after covering for Democracy Now! the Dakota Access Pipeline protests during which guards unleashed dogs and pepper spray on protesters in Morton County, North Dakota.{{cite news |url=http://www.wdaz.com/news/north-dakota/4112656-reporter-who-documented-guard-dogs-charged-trespassing-pipeline-protest |title=Reporter who documented guard dogs charged with trespassing at pipeline protest site |last=Dalrymple |first=Amy |date=September 10, 2016 |publisher=WDAZ |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911082501/http://www.wdaz.com/news/north-dakota/4112656-reporter-who-documented-guard-dogs-charged-trespassing-pipeline-protest |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://njtoday.net/2016/09/10/reporter-presidential-candidate-wanted-trespassing-pipeline-protest/ |title=Reporter & presidential candidate wanted for trespassing at pipeline protest |date=September 10, 2016 |work=njtoday.net |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729191412/http://njtoday.net/2016/09/10/reporter-presidential-candidate-wanted-trespassing-pipeline-protest/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://mashable.com/2016/09/11/amy-goodman-dakota-access-pipeline/ |title=Arrest warrant issued for Amy Goodman after North Dakota protest coverage |last=Bogle |first=Ariel |date=September 11, 2016 |work=Mashable |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-date=September 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912060725/http://mashable.com/2016/09/11/amy-goodman-dakota-access-pipeline/ |url-status=live }} An arrest warrant was reportedly also issued for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka.

Goodman elected to turn herself in. Three days before the court date, the charges were increased to engaging in a riot, which carried a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/us/judge-rejects-riot-charge-against-amy-goodman-of-democracy-now-over-pipeline-protest.html |title=Judge Rejects Riot Charge Against Amy Goodman of 'Democracy Now' Over Pipeline Protest |last=McDannoct |first=Erin |date=October 17, 2016 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 26, 2016 |archive-date=October 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020104841/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/us/judge-rejects-riot-charge-against-amy-goodman-of-democracy-now-over-pipeline-protest.html |url-status=live }} On October 17, 2016, the judge quickly dismissed the charges, but Morton County prosecutors insisted the case is still open and that they may pursue further charges in the future.* {{cite news |url=http://bismarcktribune.com/newsa/state-and-regional/defense-attorney-questions-prosecutor-in-amy-goodman-case/article_dc5fb820-4ed4-5a77-b8fb-6a210875e8dc.html |title=Protest winds down at Morton County Courthouse |last=Grueskin |first=Caroline |date=October 17, 2016 |work=Bismarck Tribune |access-date=October 17, 2016 |archive-date=August 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827205919/http://bismarcktribune.com/newsa/state-and-regional/defense-attorney-questions-prosecutor-in-amy-goodman-case/article_dc5fb820-4ed4-5a77-b8fb-6a210875e8dc.html |url-status=live }}

• {{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/democracy-now-reporter-amy-goodman-charged-with-rioting-after-filming-attack-on-protesters-north-a7364821.html |title=Democracy Now! reporter Amy Goodman 'rioting' charges rejected by judge after filming attack on Native American protesters |last1=Buncombe |first1=Andrew |last2=Garcia |first2=Feliks |date=October 17, 2016 |work=The Independent |access-date=October 17, 2016 |archive-date=October 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018151717/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/democracy-now-reporter-amy-goodman-charged-with-rioting-after-filming-attack-on-protesters-north-a7364821.html |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/amy-goodman-north-dakota-oil-access-pipeline-protest-arrest-riot |title=Judge rejects riot charges for journalist Amy Goodman after oil pipeline protest |last=Levin |first=Sam |date=October 17, 2016 |work=The Guardian |access-date=October 17, 2016 |archive-date=October 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019023948/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/amy-goodman-north-dakota-oil-access-pipeline-protest-arrest-riot |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-goodman-north-dakota-20161017-snap-story.html |title=N. Dakota charges reporter with 'riot' for covering protest--but gets slapped down by judge |last=Hiltzik |first=Michael |date=October 17, 2016 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 17, 2016 |archive-date=October 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018170836/http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-goodman-north-dakota-20161017-snap-story.html |url-status=live }} Goodman asserted the importance of freedom of the press and said that Democracy Now! would continue covering the developing situation in North Dakota.

==Notable guests, interviews, and on-air debates==

{| {{Table|sort}}

! Guest(s) !! First Appearance(s) !! Episode or Guest Notoriety

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Mumia Abu-Jamal

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | February 24, 1997

| In its first year, Democracy Now! was one of the first national programs to air radio commentaries from the controversial journalist and former Black Panther Party member, on death row in Pennsylvania for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. The 1997 decision to air Abu-Jamal's commentaries caused Democracy Now! to lose twelve of its then 36 affiliates.{{cite news |title=Pacifica Stations Bolt Over Convicted Killer's Commentary |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Marc Fisher |date=February 25, 1997}}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Tariq Ali,
Christopher Hitchens

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | December 4, 2003
October 12, 2004

| Took opposing sides in two debates over the Iraq War, on December 4, 2003,{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/04/1523254&mode=thread&tid=25 |title=Tariq Ali vs. Christopher Hitchens on the Occupation of Iraq: Postponed Liberation or Recolonisation? |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=February 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714164952/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03%2F12%2F04%2F1523254&mode=thread&tid=25 |archive-date=July 14, 2007}} and October 12, 2004.[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/12/1347208&mode=thread&tid=25 Tariq Ali v. Christopher Hitchens: A Debate on the U.S. War on Iraq, the Bush-Kerry Race and the Neo-Conservative Movement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116170844/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04%2F10%2F12%2F1347208&mode=thread&tid=25 |date=November 16, 2007 }}.{{cite book |title=Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left |date=2008 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1686-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/christopherhitch00thom/page/290 290] |url=https://archive.org/details/christopherhitch00thom |url-access=registration |quote=tariq ali democracy now. |access-date=September 10, 2016}}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Noam Chomsky

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | July 11, 1996

| A regularly interviewed guest; MIT linguistics professor, political analyst, and author.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/noam_chomsky |title=Noam Chomsky |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=November 14, 2016 |archive-date=November 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116112107/http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/noam_chomsky |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author1=Thomas Boothe |author2=Danielle Follette |title=" Democracy now " donne sa voix à la gauche américaine |trans-title="Democracy now" gives its voice to the American Left |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2008/01/BOOTHE/15477 |access-date=September 10, 2016 |work=Le Monde diplomatique |date=January 2008 |language=fr |archive-date=September 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924041726/https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2008/01/BOOTHE/15477 |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | President Bill Clinton

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | November 8, 2000

| When Clinton called WBAI on Election Day 2000[http://www.democracynow.org/2000/11/8/democracy_now_exclusive_interview_with_president Democracy Now! Exclusive Interview with President Bill Clinton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306072530/http://www.democracynow.org/2000/11/8/democracy_now_exclusive_interview_with_president |date=March 6, 2008 }}, Democracy Now!, November 8, 2000. Retrieved September 17, 2009. for a quick get-out-the-vote message, Goodman and WBAI's Gonzalo Aburto challenged him for 28 minutes with human rights questions about Leonard Peltier, racial profiling, the Iraq sanctions, Ralph Nader, the death penalty, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Clinton defended his administration's policies and charged Goodman with being "hostile and combative".[http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in Bill Clinton Loses His Cool in Democracy Now! Interview on Everything But Monica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311040609/http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in |date=March 11, 2009 }}, Democracy Now!, June 22, 2004. Retrieved September 17, 2009.

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Angela Davis

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | October 12, 2010

| Interviewed various times on the show, Davis is a prison abolitionist, communist, and scholar. Davis' interviews have featured topics such as the prison industrial complex, Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, US politics and the demonetization of radicals, and her past activism.{{Cite web|title=Angela Davis on the Prison Abolishment Movement, Frederick Douglass, the 40th Anniversary of Her Arrest and President Obama's First Two Years|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/19/angela_davis_on_the_prison_abolishment|access-date=July 15, 2020|website=Democracy Now!|language=en|archive-date=July 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716043913/https://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/19/angela_davis_on_the_prison_abolishment|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Hands Off Assata Shakur: Angela Davis Calls for Radical Activism to Protect Activist Exiled in Cuba|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/28/hands_off_assata_shakur_angela_davis |first1=Angela |last1=Davis |first2=Amy |last2=Goodman |date=March 28, 2016 |access-date=July 15, 2020|website=Democracy Now!|language=en|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719113531/https://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/28/hands_off_assata_shakur_angela_davis|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Angela Davis on Ferguson, Palestine & the Foundations of a Movement|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/28/freedom_is_a_constant_struggle_angela |date=March 28, 2016 |first1=Angela |last1=Davis |first2=Amy |last2=Goodman |access-date=July 15, 2020|website=Democracy Now!|language=en|archive-date=July 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716060130/https://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/28/freedom_is_a_constant_struggle_angela|url-status=live}} She was also interviewed in the summer of 2020 during the George Floyd uprisings, speaking on the political moment and spread of abolitionist ideas.{{Cite news|date=July 3, 2020|title=Angela Davis on Abolition, Calls to Defund Police, Toppled Racist Statues & Voting in 2020 Election|work=Democracy Now!|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2020/7/3/angela_davis_on_abolition_calls_to|access-date=July 15, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717094249/https://www.democracynow.org/2020/7/3/angela_davis_on_abolition_calls_to|url-status=live}}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Alan Dershowitz,
Norman G. Finkelstein

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | September 24, 2003

| Finkelstein is a frequent guest. This was a much publicized debate about whether the Dershowitz book, The Case for Israel was plagiarized and inaccurate. Dershowitz has written that he agreed to appear on the show after being told he would debate Noam Chomsky, not Finkelstein.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/cambridge-diarist |title=Taking the Bait |magazine=The New Republic |author=Alan Dershowitz |date=May 14, 2007 |access-date=June 24, 2007 |archive-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219060304/http://www.tnr.com/article/cambridge-diarist |url-status=live }} See also: Dershowitz–Finkelstein affair.

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Naomi Klein

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | June 13, 1997

| Author, public intellectual, and critic of globalization and corporate capitalism. Notable interview on March 9, 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/9/naomi_klein_on_anti_union_bills |title=Naomi Klein on Anti-Union Bills and Shock Doctrine American-Style: "This is a Frontal Assault on Democracy, a Corporate Coup D'Etat" |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=March 9, 2010 |archive-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310010819/http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/9/naomi_klein_on_anti_union_bills |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Winona LaDuke

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | September 4, 1996

| Ojibwe activist and former Green Vice Presidential Candidate.{{cite web |title=Democracy Now! Speaks to Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II and Winona LaDuke |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/30/democracy-now-speaks-standing-rock-chairman-david-archambault-ii-and-winona-laduke-165635 |website=Indian Country Today Media Network |access-date=September 11, 2016 |date=August 30, 2016 |archive-date=September 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907103154/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/30/democracy-now-speaks-standing-rock-chairman-david-archambault-ii-and-winona-laduke-165635 |url-status=dead }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Ralph Nader

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | June 14, 1996

| A regularly interviewed guest; consumer activist, corporate critic, author, and former presidential candidate.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/21/ralph_nader_on_the_g20_healthcare |title=Ralph Nader on the G-20, Healthcare Reform, Mideast Talks and His First Work of Fiction, "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!" |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=February 9, 2010 |archive-date=March 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304090405/http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/21/ralph_nader_on_the_g20_healthcare |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Robert Reich,
Chris Hedges

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | July 26, 2016

| Clinton Administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist Chris Hedges debated on the role of Bernie Sanders supporters after Hillary Clinton won the 2016 Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Reich encouraged progressives to unite the party behind Clinton (as Sanders had already endorsed her), while Hedges endorsed Jill Stein of the Green Party of the United States, denouncing the "lesser of two evils" approach.{{cite web |title=Who Should Bernie Voters Support Now? Robert Reich vs. Chris Hedges on Tackling the Neoliberal Order | via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr4cXH3Fil8 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/jr4cXH3Fil8| archive-date=November 17, 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=August 5, 2016 |date=July 26, 2016}}{{cbignore}}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Arundhati Roy

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | December 15, 2008

| Recurring guest; Indian writer, anti-war activist, and leading figure in the alter-globalization movement.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/arundhati_roy |title=Shows With Arundhati Roy |website=Democracy Now! |access-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129084040/http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/arundhati_roy |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Kshama Sawant

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | January 6, 2014

| Seattle City Council member and member of Socialist Alternative, who made history in 2013 by becoming the first independent socialist to win election in Seattle for nearly 100 years. A frequent guest, including after her successful re-election campaign in November 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/12/socialist_kshama_sawant_seattle_election_amazon |title="Seattle Is Not For Sale": Voters Rebuke Amazon, Re-electing Socialist Kshama Sawant |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=July 10, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729203008/https://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/12/socialist_kshama_sawant_seattle_election_amazon |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Joseph Stiglitz

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | June 6, 2012

| Recurring guest; Nobel Laureate economist; former Chief Economist of the World Bank; Chief Economist at the Roosevelt Institute

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Studs Terkel

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | November 27, 2008

| Another radio broadcaster who collected stories from everyday people.{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Amy |title=Studs Terkel 1912–2008: A Democracy Now! Special Tribute to the Beloved Oral Historian and broadcaster |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/27/studs_terkel_1912_2008_a_democracy |website=Democracy Now! |access-date=September 10, 2016 |date=November 27, 2008 |archive-date=September 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910023438/http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/27/studs_terkel_1912_2008_a_democracy |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Wieder |first1=Alan |title=Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation |date=2016 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-58367-593-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYCtCwAAQBAJ&q=studs+terkel+amy+goodman&pg=PT183 |access-date=September 10, 2016 |archive-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119194126/https://books.google.com/books?id=DYCtCwAAQBAJ&q=studs+terkel+amy+goodman&pg=PT183#v=snippet&q=studs%20terkel%20amy%20goodman&f=false |url-status=live }}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Roger Waters

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | December 30, 2009

| English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who co-founded Pink Floyd.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/22/pink_floyds_roger_waters_launches_campaign |date=January 22, 2016 |title=Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Launches "Campaign to Close Guantánamo" for Obama's Last Year in Office |website=Democracy Now! |access-date=January 22, 2016 |archive-date=January 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123212436/http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/22/pink_floyds_roger_waters_launches_campaign |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailycall.org/?p=83873 |title=VIDEO: Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Performs "We Shall Overcome" In Democracy Now! Studio |date=January 29, 2016 |website=The Daily Call |last1=markt |access-date=September 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920102911/http://www.thedailycall.org/?p=83873 |archive-date=September 20, 2016}}

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Edward Snowden

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | June 10, 2013

| American whistleblower who revealed unlawful mass surveillance carried out by the US government while working as a contractor."[https://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/10/youre_being_watched_edward_snowden_emerges "You're Being Watched": Edward Snowden Emerges as Source Behind Explosive Revelations of NSA Spying]", June 10, 2013, Democracy Now! {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927041316/https://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/10/youre_being_watched_edward_snowden_emerges |date=September 27, 2019 }}.

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Katharine Gun

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | July 19, 2019

| British whistleblower whose attempts to expose lies about the Iraq invasion was called "the most important and courageous leak" in history."https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/19/15_years_later_how_uk_whistleblower 15 Years Later: How U.K. Whistleblower Katharine Gun Risked Everything to Leak a Damning Iraq War Memo]", July 19, 2019, Democracy Now! {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207091033/https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/19/15_years_later_how_uk_whistleblower |date=December 7, 2020 }}.

|-

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | Greta Thunberg

| style="white-space: nowrap;" | September 10, 2019

| Swedish climate activist who sailed from Europe to America.{{cite news|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/11/greta_thunberg_swedish_activist_climate_crisis|title="We Are Striking to Disrupt the System": An Hour with 16-Year-Old Climate Activist Greta Thunberg |newspaper=Democracy Now|language=en|date=September 11, 2019|access-date=September 15, 2019|archive-date=September 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914093625/https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/11/greta_thunberg_swedish_activist_climate_crisis|url-status=live}}

|}

Democracy Now! has featured appearances from Green Party candidate Jill Stein during the 2016 United States presidential election.{{harvnb|Marmura|2018|p=99.}}

According to a 2016–17 Quantcast survey, "democracynow.org reaches over 395K U.S. monthly people".{{cite web |url=https://www.quantcast.com/democracynow.org |publisher=Quantcast |title=DemocracyNow.org |url-access=registration |access-date=November 20, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035017/https://www.quantcast.com/democracynow.org |url-status=live }}

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