KQED's Forum Amy Goodman Wants Corporate Media to ‘Steal This Story, Please!’
Apr 13, 2026
Amy Goodman, longtime investigative journalist of Democracy Now!; Tia Lessin, documentary filmmaker and co-director of Steal This Story, Please. They discuss the film about Goodman's 30-year career. Conversations cover corporate media consolidation and its influence, centering marginalized voices, high-stakes international reporting, and defending independent journalism and public media.
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Corporate Media Narrow Democracy
- Amy Goodman argues corporate-owned media fail democracy by circling the wagons around power, especially around decisions like going to war.
- She cites Phil Donahue's 2003 firing and media consolidation examples like Jeff Bezos owning The Washington Post to show structural pressures.
Profit Motives Shrink Newsrooms
- Newsrooms are vulnerable inside corporate conglomerates because they don't always produce the highest profits, making them expendable amid mergers.
- Amy links settlements paid to Trump and ownership ties as incentives to curb hard-hitting journalism.
Reporting From the East Timor Massacre
- Amy Goodman reported from East Timor where Indonesian forces massacred civilians and attacked her and colleague Alan Aaron, who suffered a fractured skull.
- Their reporting helped spur the East Timor Action Network and U.S. congressional pressure that contributed to a 1999 referendum and eventual independence in 2002.