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


  • Guinea Bissau
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Guinea-Bissau Coup Protects Its Neo-Liberal State
    05 Dec 2025
    The West African nation of Guinea-Bissau recently experienced an aborted electoral process followed by what was called a coup d’etat. But the reality differs from the narrative presented by the neo-…
  • Ajamu on Reason2Resist
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dimitri Lascaris
    US Attack On Venezuela Would Cause 'Chaos' In The Region w/ Ajamu Baraka
    03 Dec 2025
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, joins Dimitri Lascaris to discuss the potential US attack on Venezuela and its regional impact. The conversation explores the legality and morality of recent…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Double Tap on Venezuela
    03 Dec 2025
    U.S. sanctions, violence, threats, and theft are war crimes waged against Venezuela for decades. A scandal about a “double tap” killing should not be the focus of attention.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: When to fight, when to care, Floyd Dunn, 1993
    03 Dec 2025
    “The [AIDS] epidemic continued to gobble up the first phase of us…”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki Stands with Sudan
    03 Dec 2025
    Eritrean President Isais Afwerki arrived in Port Sudan on November 29 to stand with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for the unity of Sudan.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us