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


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Year After Al-Aqsa Flood
    02 Oct 2024
    The maniacal alliance between the U.S. and Israel has exposed the sham of western democracy and the illusion of international law.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ARTICLE: The Forgotten Occupation, Emmanuel Santos, 2008
    02 Oct 2024
    A reminder that Haiti’s struggle is an anti-colonial one that deserves the world’s solidarity, not its indifference.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    How the US Destabilized the Horn of Africa
    02 Oct 2024
    In 2018, the leaders of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia signed a regional cooperation agreement that raised great hope in the Horn, but now, six years, later, it lies in tatters.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    Imperialism Makes Mockery of the United Nations General Assembly
    02 Oct 2024
    International gathering in New York City fails to enforce its own decisions while regional wars expand in Europe and West Asia.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Bassackwards Tribe strikes again!
    02 Oct 2024
    "Bassackwards Tribe strikes again!" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us