Amy Goodman meets with NJ’s local journalists about the importance of independent, ethnic and community media
These outlets, she says, are ‘the best example of giving voice to the people in your communities.’
Amy Goodman, acclaimed journalist, and cofounder and cohost of Democracy Now!, took a break from the newsroom on Tuesday afternoon to meet with more than 30 local journalists and partners of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.
The Center hosted a luncheon with Goodman in Newark. During the event —which highlighted the work of New Jersey’s ethnic and community media — Goodman led an in-depth conversation on a broad range of pressing issues that impact people of color and immigrant communities in the state and nationwide.
With just a month left before Election Day, Goodman opened the discussion by highlighting the critical role of ethnic and community media in sharing important stories unreported in mass media, shutting down damaging narratives, and advocating for the communities they serve.
“So whether it’s a Palestinian child or an Israeli grandmother, whether it’s a Haitian uncle or an aunt in Afghanistan, when you hear them speaking from their own experience it challenges the stereotypes and the caricatures that fuel hate groups,” said Goodman.
Journalists attendees shared their current reporting on a range of topics, including the impact of inflation, the need for affordable housing, and local perspectives on the war in Ukraine and rising death tolls in Gaza and Israel.
Goodman is the award-winning co-host of Democracy Now!, a renowned independent news program that airs on more than 1,400 public radio and television stations worldwide, and also co-author of the book The Silenced Majority. She reflected on the organization’s humble beginnings and the challenges her organization faced over the years. Goodman acknowledged the role of independent media is fraught with hurdles and confronts a media landscape that lacks representation, which makes this work more necessary.
“People are organizing. People are speaking, but it doesn’t hit the corporate media radar screen. We’ve got to break the sound barrier,” she said. “And I think you guys are the best example of the potential of giving voice to the people in your communities.”
Goodman was the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ for “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 luncheon event, “A Conversation with Amy Goodman,” was part of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s initiatives to advance racial equity in New Jersey journalism.
To listen and watch excerpts from the conversation, watch this video recorded by Mohsin Zaheer, editor and publisher of Urdu News.
Oni Advincula is the ethnic media coordinator at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Contact him at advinculaa@montclair.edu.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
