The mainstream media gets it wrong; governments lie; people are
fighting back.

That’s Amy Goodman’s America.

Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an hour-long radio, TV
and online news program which has grown, from humble beginnings 13
years ago, into a grassroots institution for the left. Her show, on
each weekday, focuses on stories that the major media outlets won’t
touch, and tries to hold those in power accountable.

“We need a media that covers power, not covers for power,” Goodman
says in an interview with the Weekly. “A media that is the
fourth estate, not for the state, and a media that covers the movements
that create (opposition) and make history.”

Goodman is coming to Tucson as part of a tour to benefit independent
media and promote her latest book, Standing Up to the Madness:
Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times. All proceeds from the
speech/book-signing, which is expected to sell out, will go to KXCI FM
91.3 and Access Tucson, which both broadcast her show.

Goodman’s visit comes at a helpful time, according to Access Tucson
executive director Sam Behrend, because the city government is beyond
broke, and funding for the community television station has been
slashed.

The station is supported by small monthly fees collected from cable
subscribers for the express purpose of funding community media, Behrend
says, but the city government collects and distributes the money as if
it is part of the general fund. The budget cuts have forced Access
Tucson to fire administrative staff, cut hours and benefits, and close
the station for the month of June.

Still, that’s better than what could have happened. Before being
fired by the Tucson City Council, city manager Mike Hein included the
total elimination of funding for Access Tucson on a list of budget
options.

While they’re still expecting devastating cuts under the new city
manager’s budget, Behrend thinks the station will survive and continue
to service the Tucson community.

“Particularly at a time when the print media and local voices in the
media are being diminished … Access Tucson provides the opportunity
for ordinary citizens, and groups and organizations, to use what is
still the prevailing medium of our time, television, to enable
Tucsonans to exchange ideas, information, values, cultures, religion,
arts, etcetera,” says Behrend.

Meanwhile, KXCI, Tucson’s listener-supported community radio
station, is actually doing quite well. This March, KXCI had its most
successful membership drive ever, raising more than $100,000, according
to acting general manager Randy Peterson.

“In a down economy, people really think about where best to use
their disposable income, and maybe are cutting off some charities that
they gave a little bit of money to, so that they can make meaningful
gifts to the ones that are most important to them,” Peterson says.

KXCI started broadcasting Democracy Now! more than a decade
ago. It was the first station to broadcast the show in Arizona,
Peterson says, and probably one of the first 20 stations in the
country.

When listeners call the station to donate, the staff asks them to
name their favorite shows, and Peterson says Democracy Now! is
always one of the most-cited programs.

“It’s one of the absolute best independent news programs out there,”
he says, “and people have always appreciated us having it.”

Goodman recently received the Right Livelihood Award, which has also
been called the “alternative Nobel Prize” for her model of “trickle up
journalism,” and is a recipient of the first annual Park Center for
Independent Media Izzy Award, along with many other awards.

Goodman’s latest book, Standing Up to the Madness, is the
third she has co-written with her brother, investigative journalist
David Goodman. It chronicles people who weren’t looking for trouble but
fought back when trouble—from the Bush era hijacking of civil
liberties—found them.

She is currently hosting her show from the road, hitting 70 cities
to benefit local independent media. In Tucson, at least, she’s not
accepting a dime for her time or travel.

“The point of Democracy Now!” Goodman says, “is to take those
(local) voices global and connect the dots of these precious national
treasures—public media like Access Tucson and KXCI—and link
them all over the country and the world. … These are the places where
you hear those who think outside the box.”

This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.