Review: Steal This Story, Please!

Goodman's life and work is profiled

Amy Goodman is a journalist, broadcaster, columnist, investigative reporter and author. 

But most of all, she's fearless.

Yesterday I watched the documentary Steal This Story, Please!, profiling Goodman, 69, in her personal life and journalism career where she relentlessly asks questions and if there is something going on that isn't widely reported, you can be sure she makes sure you hear about it.

She is a relentless journalist

She is the co-founder, host and executive producer of Democracy Now! an independent news outlet that relies on the donations of viewers, and is not beholden to corporations.

During her career, Goodman has broken many stories, such as the Santa Cruz massacre, when some 250 demonstrators were killed by Indonesian soldiers using American weapons. She and her colleague Allan Nairn witnessed the incident and Nairn was physically assaulted.

Another was exposing Chevron transporting the Nigerian navy and police to quell protests, which led to the killing of two protestors and injuring 11 others. A Chevron spokesperson admitted transporting the troops on the record.

When President Bill Clinton called the station as a public service announcement to get people to vote, Goodman kept him on the air for 28 minutes, talking about a range of subjects in a combative interview. While the White House communications department accused her of violating rules when interviewing the President, Goodman replied that he continued talking -- he could have hung up at anytime.

She was also broadcasting around the clock on September 11 when two planes hit the twin towers, only blocks away from the studio. Goodman and her team also revealed how the dust from the area caused major health issues for New Yorkers even though the mayor and other health officials claimed the air quality was fine.

From a young age, Goodman was encouraged by her maternal grandfather, an Orthodox rabbi, to ask questions. When she was a child, her brother David started a self-published family paper and she collected subscription money, and wrote letters to the editor.

She covers stories mainstream media don't

She later edited the school paper and as Goodman tells it, she held the principal to account for his actions. 

In the documentary she explains after graduating from university she was obsessed with working on The Phil Donahue Show. She thought it was refreshing to watch people being frank and discussing issues on television.

Eventually the show contacted her, asking her to be there the next day -- to be a panellist about unemployed young people.

She took that as a sign to create her own work, and started working for a community radio station in the mid to late 80s.

In 1996 she started the program Democracy Now!, trained several people to be journalists, and the transition from radio to video.

We also see her visit her 106-year-old grandmother, who, despite hearing problems, insists Goodman must comb her hair. Goodman goes to Rivne in Ukraine (before the 2022 war) and pays her respects to her ancestors who didn't leave before the pogroms began.

Steal This Story, Please! is a collection of archival footage of Goodman, and it's quite impressive to see so much of it, especially in her early days of radio. When I worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the radio current affairs department, we never filmed anything, except perhaps the odd celebrity interview or if the prime minister came by.

Her scoops reveal over and over again how mainstream media were completely unaware of what was going on, and had to use her footage because she had drawn so much attention to the story. 

Some accused her of being an activist-journalist, but to her these are stories that are worthy of attention, that no one is lesser; this is particularly the case of the plight of the Palestinians, and this was over 10 years ago. 

Goodman says the duty of journalists is to ask questions, and that can lead you closer to the truth.

Inspiring and yes, fearless.

Steal This Story, Please!

Directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessen

98 minutes

HK to Broadcast Patriotic Programs

Broadcasters must show 30 mins of patriotic content per week

The Hong Kong government is further regulating what people can watch and hear on local airwaves, stipulating that free-to-air broadcasters must include at least 30 minutes per week of content promoting national security and patriotism.

Not only that but this content needs to be presented in a light-hearted, funny and creative way.

Free-to-air broadcasters like TVB, ViuTV, and HOY TV, as well as radio stations Commercial Radio and Metro Broadcast must include this content as part of a licensing requirement on top of 90 minutes of current affairs programs.

The content must be shown in a light-hearted way

All five broadcasters accepted the change in policy.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said broadcasters could decide how they presented the topics.

"It's a general licensing requirement. It's up to the broadcasting company to come up with their individual program," he said.

"According to the licensing requirement, we can closely monitor how the content is delivered and review it from time to time."

A government source said it did not have concrete ideas on how the broadcasters could fulfil the new rule.

"It's up to the stations regarding the format and programs. We seldom put restrictions on that. They only have to tell us what they have done to comply with the requirement," the source said.

So the government wants more patriotic content but doesn't know how it should be presented, except in a light-hearted way?

How can NSL be made into a funny topic? 

How is national security a topic one can be creative with when it is so vague that anyone can get into trouble violating it?

Interestingly this requirement does not apply to private TV stations, such as foreign programs and sports channels.

Well... if they are broadcasting local games then the Chinese national anthem is played, right? That's patriotic content, is it not?

According to a Legislative Council paper published on Wednesday, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said safeguarding sovereignty and security, as well as promoting a sense of national identity, were among the current administration's policies and deemed the new rule "necessary and timely".

One lawmaker, Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, suggested that topics like national education and patriotism should be taught in schools, not on the TV, but added that perhaps these topics could be presented in "dynamic" and "varied" formats such as game shows and singing competitions to prevent them from being too boring.

Seriously?

It's the blind leading the blind, while the broadcasters have no choice but to follow along...