[Mb-civic] Amy Goodman?s Left Hook for Cable TV

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Amy Goodman’s Left Hook for Cable TV
by Joe Hagan

http://www.observer.com/pages/nytv.asp

Wednesday, Nov. 17

In the wide, wide political spectrum of cable-news punditry—that is, 
Beltway Red and Blue, Republican and Democrat—Amy Goodman 
is a nice shade of shocking pink. She’s a good old-fashioned lefty.

But if you think the 47-year-old host of the liberal radio and TV show 
Democracy Now! and author of The Exception to the Rulers: 
Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love 
Them—is on the far left, that’s just because everything you’re 
seeing and hearing on TV is in shades of red.

"It’s the right debating the far right," said Ms. Goodman on Monday, 
Nov. 15. "We need something outside that." Until now, Ms. 
Goodman has mainly had to confine her classic activism to a narrow 
sliver of FM radio—Pacifica Radio’s WBAI 99.5 FM—and to a 
simulcast cable-access program on Manhattan Neighborhood 
Network, BCAT, QPTV and CUNY-TV.

But now that the roar of the Presidential election has finally 
subsided, and Scott Peterson’s news value has screeched to a halt, 
cable newsmakers are looking for fresh material. Enter Ms. 
Goodman, an unapologetic progressive within a media that has run 
out of so many story lines that liberal activists are interesting once 
more. In her book, Ms. Goodman accuses the press of sucking up 
to government officials—"the access of evil"—and consisting of 
talking heads who, she said, "know so little about so much, 
commenting on every issue."

You know who you are.

On Friday, Nov. 12, Ms. Goodman turned up on Tucker Carlson’s 
PBS show, Unfiltered, which lead to a big booking on MSNBC’s 
Hardball with Chris Matthews, set for Wednesday, Nov. 17. Mr. 
Matthews’ executive producer, Tammy Haddad, saw Ms. Goodman 
"on Tucker’s show, and I thought she was an amazing talker and 
certainly worth talking to. Her point is that journalists are in collusion 
with officialdom." 

Ms. Haddad said she found that point "interesting." 

"Amy Goodman appears to have great passion and a singular voice, 
which is basic to cable success," she added.

Ms. Goodman said a voice like hers was necessary for network and 
cable-TV news operations to cleanse their sins after a shameful last 
few years.

"The Bush administration not finding weapons of mass destruction 
in Iraq exposed more than the Bush administration," she said. "It 
exposed a media that beat the drums for war for several years 
. 
Fox is easy to attack and it should be, but we’re talking about ABC, 
NBC, CBS, CNN, all of them."

In keeping with her constituency, Ms. Goodman got booked on Mr. 
Carlson’s show thanks to a lefty San Francisco cab driver. "We 
were having this conversation about politics," said Mr. Carlson. "He 
was a radical lefty—I kind of like that, better than liberals—and he 
said, ‘Do you know Amy Goodman?’, and he said, ‘You gotta have 
her on.’ And I called my booker and we booked her."

"Well, we do have a very large cab-driving audience, for sure," said 
Ms. Goodman.

Mr. Carlson said he had wanted to bring more left guests on his 
PBS show. "She’s kind of hostile to America, but it was good," said 
Mr. Carlson, who bristled at Ms. Goodman’s contention that cable 
news coverage is influenced by its conglomerate owners. "But I 
don’t think people are trying to please their corporate masters, and 
so I don’t buy that. She’s a big self-promoter. She gave her satellite 
coordinates on my show, which bugged me."

It’s not as though Mr. Carlson had never encountered a self-
promoter on CNN’s Crossfire, which is Channel 200 on the DISH 
Network, by the way. But he’d have her on again, he said.

"She’s not a lifestyle liberal," said Mr. Carlson. "Her first concern is 
not making sure you drive a Prius. She’s actually interested in 
reordering society. Again, I disagree with her. But I thought she was 
a good guest."

Ms. Goodman said she was pleasantly surprised to hear from Mr. 
Carlson, but that didn’t buy him a reprieve. "I’m concerned about a 
right-wing takeover at PBS," she said, referring to the recent 
departure of Bill Moyers and the addition of a show featuring The 
Wall Street Journal editorial board and also Mr. Carlson’s show.

Was Ms. Goodman—who can’t weigh more than 130 
pounds—ready to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Beef himself, Chris 
Matthews?

"I’m anxious about what happens to people in Iraq, I’m anxious 
about people covering Timor," she said. "I’m not anxious about 
going on Chris Matthews’ show."

That’s the spirit.

On TV, Ms. Goodman comes off as a no-frills Noam Chomsky 
pinup and anti–Deborah Norville who will rip your throat out if you 
don’t answer the question—as President Bill Clinton learned on 
election day in 2000, when he made a routine call-in to her radio 
show to plug Hillary R. Clinton’s Senate run. Ms. Goodman 
pummeled the President on whether Ralph Nader’s run was made 
possible by Mr. Clinton turning the Democratic Party to the right 
during his eight-year term.

"Now let me 
 now, wait a minute," stammered an angry Mr. 
Clinton. "You started this and every question you’ve asked has been 
hostile and combative. So you listen to my answer, will you do that? 
Now, you just listen to me. You ask the questions, and I’m going to 
answer. You have asked questions in a hostile, combative, and 
even disrespectful tone."

She’s ready for prime time. NYTV asked Ms. Goodman if she would 
ever take a regular gig on a TV show like Fox News Sunday—as 
NPR’s Juan Williams did. She didn’t count it out. The TV news 
media, she said, "has reached an all-time low. So I welcome the 
opportunity to talk about these issues."

Calling Brit Hume!

Ms. Goodman’s book was published by Hyperion, a subsidiary of 
Disney. And Tucker Carlson prodded Ms. Goodman to respond to 
the question of whether criticizing the big media from a big-media 
platform opened her up to criticism.

"If you want to be able to communicate with many people who are 
watching the mass media, you have to go where they are," said Ms. 
Goodman.

Hiya, kids! This morning on the Disney Channel, it’s Club Chomsky!

Tonight, Ms. Goodman broadcasts from an old firehouse in 
Chinatown.[CUNY, 75, midnight]

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