Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

No News Is Bad News: The Death Dance of Journalism and the Twilight of Democracy
Bill Quigley
20 May 2009
🖨️ Print Article

by Robert McChesney

In this 90 minute address, Dr. Robert McChesney argues that the disappearance of journalism from newspapers and broadcast media marks the twilight of democracy.  Back in the days when Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists started their newspapers, the US Postal Service was mailing them for free.  At the time, newspapers were 90% of post office volume, and accounted for 2% of its income, a massive government subsidy.  Only a massive subsidy --- a stimulus program for journalism, and stripping corporate owners of dozens and hundreds of stations that some of them own, can begin to make real democracy possible.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Gaza Is Not Rwanda: Its Suffering Should Not Perpetuate that of Congolese
    24 Sep 2025
    Likening the suffering of Gazans to that of Rwandan Tutsis perpetuates the narrative that has dominated the African Great Lakes Region for 30 years, allegedly justifying the sacrifice
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    (Don’t) “Say his name!”
    24 Sep 2025
    "(Don’t) 'Say his name!'" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    On the Right to Exist: Rosh Hashana Represents a Choice for Jews of Conscience, a New Year for Zionism, or a Commitment To a New Era of Jewish Values
    24 Sep 2025
    This Rosh Hashana falls during an ongoing genocide, creating a profound moral crisis for Jewish people. The holiday demands a rejection of the state committing these acts in the name of Jewish safety.
  • Tunde Osazua
    The Never Ending U.S. Killing Fields of Somalia
    24 Sep 2025
    Somalia remains a laboratory for imperialist military attacks and interventions intended to prevent the formation of a stable and secure state.
  • Jamarl Thomas
    The Soviets Defeated Nazism, but Western Fascism Lived On
    24 Sep 2025
    While China and Russia honor their historic defeat of fascism, the West has revitalized it. The doctrine of exceptionalism serves as a modern justification for genocide and imperial aggression.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us