Amy Goodman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amy Goodman
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| Born | April 13, 1957 |
| Education | College of the Atlantic Radcliffe College (BA) |
| Awards | Right Livelihood Award |
| Career | |
| Show | Democracy Now! |
| Station(s) | 1,524 |
| Network | Pacifica Radio |
| Style | Investigative journalism |
Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American journalist, writer, and reporter. She is known for her work as an investigative reporter, which means she looks deeply into important stories. Her reporting has covered big events like the movement for independence in East Timor and issues involving large companies.
Since 1996, Amy Goodman has been the main host of Democracy Now!. This is a daily news program that shares news from around the world. You can watch or listen to it on radio, TV, and the internet. She has won many awards for her important work, including the Thomas Merton Award in 2004 and the Right Livelihood Award in 2008. In 2009, she received an Izzy Award for her special achievements in independent media.
In 2012, Amy Goodman was given the Gandhi Peace Award. This award recognized her important work in helping to create lasting peace around the world. She has also written several books. These include The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope (2012) and Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America (2016). In 2016, she reported on protests about the Dakota Access pipeline. Her reporting led to a legal challenge, but the case was later dismissed. Many groups, like the Committee to Protect Journalists, supported her, saying that journalists should be free to report the news.
In 2014, Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism honored her with the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. This award recognized her commitment to independent reporting.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Amy Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York, which is on Long Island. Her parents were involved in groups that worked for social change. Her father, George Goodman, was an eye doctor. Her mother, Dorothy Goodman, was a teacher and later a social worker. Amy has two brothers, David Goodman and Steven N. Goodman.
She finished high school at Bay Shore High School in 1975. Amy then studied at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. She later graduated from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1984. She earned a degree in anthropology, which is the study of human societies and cultures.
Amy Goodman's Reporting Work
Amy Goodman is known for her brave and detailed reporting. She often covers stories that other news outlets might not focus on.
Reporting on East Timor
In 1991, Amy Goodman reported on the movement for independence in East Timor. While covering a protest, she and another journalist, Allan Nairn, saw a terrible event where many Timorese demonstrators were killed. This event became known as the Santa Cruz massacre. Goodman and Nairn were also badly beaten by soldiers during this time.
Investigating Oil Companies
In 1998, Amy Goodman and journalist Jeremy Scahill investigated the role of Chevron Corporation in Nigeria. They reported on a conflict between the Nigerian Army and villagers. The villagers had taken over oil equipment because they believed the company was polluting their land. During this standoff, two villagers were shot and killed. Chevron later said they had transported troops to the area to protect their facilities. The documentary that Goodman and her team made about this, called Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, won an award in 1998.
Michael Delli Carpini, a dean at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, has praised Amy Goodman's work. He said she focuses on facts and brings forward voices that are often not heard in traditional news.
Democracy Now! News Program
Amy Goodman was the news director for a radio station called WBAI in New York City for over ten years. In 1996, she helped start Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report. This program has become very important in independent news. Professor Robert McChesney, a media critic, called it "probably the most significant progressive news institution that has come around in some time."
In 2001, the show had to move temporarily because of disagreements within the radio station. It broadcast from a converted firehouse for almost eight years. Later, Democracy Now! moved to a studio in Manhattan. Amy Goodman believes the program is successful because it fills a "huge niche" by covering stories that mainstream media often miss.
Interview with President Clinton
In 2000, President Bill Clinton called WBAI on Election Day. He wanted to encourage people to vote. However, Amy Goodman and another journalist, Gonzalo Aburto, used the opportunity to ask him questions for 28 minutes. They asked about human rights, issues like racial profiling, and conflicts around the world. President Clinton defended his policies and said Goodman was "hostile and combative."
Reporting at the 2008 Republican Convention
During the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, some of Amy Goodman's colleagues from Democracy Now! were arrested. They were reporting on an anti-war protest outside the event. When Amy Goodman tried to find out what happened to her colleagues, she was also arrested. She was accused of getting in the way of police. Other Democracy Now! producers were also held.
The arrests were recorded on video. Amy Goodman and her colleagues were later released, and the charges were dropped. Goodman and her team then filed a lawsuit against the police departments and the United States Secret Service. They said their arrests were illegal. The agencies settled the case for $100,000 and agreed to teach officers about the First Amendment rights of journalists and the public.
Border Incident in British Columbia
On November 25, 2009, Amy Goodman and two colleagues, Denis Moynihan and Chuck Scurich, were stopped at the Canadian border. They were going to a meeting in Vancouver. Immigration officials asked them about what they planned to discuss at the meeting, including whether they would talk about the 2010 Olympic Games.
After about 90 minutes, they were allowed to enter Canada. However, customs officials took photos of Amy Goodman, checked one of her colleague's computers, and put a special document in her passport. This document required her to leave Canada within 48 hours.
Reporting on Dakota Access Pipeline Protests (2016)
In September 2016, Amy Goodman reported on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota. Her footage showed security personnel using pepper spray and dogs on demonstrators. After Democracy Now! showed this footage, a state prosecutor tried to bring charges against her. The first charge was dismissed, but then a new one was made. The prosecutor said Goodman acted like a "protester" instead of a journalist because her reports seemed to support the protest actions.
Amy Goodman went to the Morton County sheriff's office on October 17, 2016. She said she would fight the charges, calling them a "clear violation" of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press. Many groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, supported her. They said the charges were an attempt to stop reporters from covering important public events.
On October 17, 2016, a judge dismissed the case. The judge found no reason to support the charge against her. The news about the charges against Amy Goodman actually helped more people learn about the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
Awards and Recognitions
Amy Goodman has received many awards for her important journalism. These include the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 1993 (with Allan Nairn) and the George Polk Award in 1998 (with Jeremy Scahill). In 1999, she chose not to accept an award from the Overseas Press Club. She did this to protest the group's rules and because they were honoring Indonesia, even though its forces had recently harmed reporters in occupied East Timor.
She received the 2001 Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage. On October 2, 2004, she was given the Islamic Community Award for Journalism. On November 18, 2004, she received the Thomas Merton Award. In 2006, she was given the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship.
Goodman received the 2008 Right Livelihood Award. The award foundation recognized her for creating a new way of independent, grassroots journalism. They noted that she brings "alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media" to millions of people.
On March 31, 2009, Amy Goodman and Glenn Greenwald received the first Izzy Award. This award, named after journalist I. F. "Izzy" Stone, is for special achievements in independent media. It is given by Ithaca College's Park Center for Independent Media.
In May 2012, she received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from DePauw University for her journalism. She also received the Gandhi Peace Award for her important work in promoting lasting international peace.
On May 16, 2014, she received another honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Purchase College, SUNY, for her progressive journalism. In February 2015, she and Laura Poitras received the 2014 I.F. Stone Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
In 2016, Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! (along with Laura Gottesdiener, John Hamilton, and Denis Moynihan) won a Sigma Delta Chi Award. This award from the Society of Professional Journalists was for their excellent breaking news coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, titled “Standoff at Standing Rock: Epic Native resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline.”
On February 14, 2019, she received the Frederick Douglass 200 award. She was honored at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. This award recognizes people who follow in the footsteps of Frederick Douglass. In October 2023, the NY Peace Action Network gave her the William Sloane Coffin "Peacemaker Award."
Personal Life
In September 2007, Amy Goodman had a health issue called Bell's palsy, which affects facial muscles. She practices yoga. Amy Goodman is also vegan, meaning she does not eat any animal products. She has been vegetarian since she was a teenager in the mid-1970s.
Film and Media Appearances
Amy Goodman is the subject of a documentary film called "Steal this Story, Please!". This film had its first showing at the DC/DOX film festival on June 12, 2025. She attended the screening and a discussion with the filmmakers.
In 2006, Goodman narrated a film called One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern. This documentary was about the life of retired politician George McGovern and his presidential campaign in 1972.
See also
In Spanish: Amy Goodman para niños
- List of peace activists
- New Yorkers in journalism
