Amanpour & Co. on PBS hosted radical journalist Amy Goodman on Thursday to discuss Steal This Story, Please! a new documentary based on her work.
After whining about the “danger and disruption” the media industry faces thanks to corporatism and President Trump’s “attacks,” she talked to Goodman, the supposed savior of “independent journalism,” who hosts the Pacifica Radio show Democracy Now! This is yet another elitist media plug for the Goodman doc.
Amanpour: Amy and one of the film's co-directors joined me from New York to discuss this struggle. Amy Goodman, Tia Lessin, welcome to the program. It is an amazing film. It took me all the way back to what I call, you know, really traditional journalism. And it's great to be reminded of what can be done by you fearless person, Amy Goodman. Let me just first ask Tia, what is it about the concept of democracy now that you decided would make a good film?
Tia Lessin, Director:….Amy created this incredible model of independent journalism. It does not take corporate money, no underwriting, no advertising. It doesn't take government funding. It is entirely financed by audience. Its listeners and its viewers and, you know, nonprofit institutional givers….
No government funding? That's false (until the last year). The Pacifica stations were long funded by taxpayers through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to the tune of about a million dollars each year.
A discussion of Trump rolling back “climate mitigation efforts and climate constraints and controls” segued into a documentary scene on a Democracy Now! producer lamenting that the show failed to stop the 2003 Iraq War, which led to the closest thing to a challenging question offered by the host.
Amanpour: … And I'm sitting there thinking to myself, really? You really think you could stop this stuff? So, this is my way of asking you, do you think your job is to try to stop this, whether it's climate, whether it's war? And what about people who say that you're more activist than journalist?
Amanpour gushed over Goodman's "outstanding moment" in 2000 with President Bill Clinton called her in 2000 and stayed on the line for half an hour, joking that Trump would have hung up at the first difficult question. She failed to acknowledge Trump routinely takes hostile questions from the press. Left ignored: the handlers of President Biden hiding him from the media for years.
Christi-ahhhnn Amanpour lathers up radical journalist Amy Goodman for coming at President Clinton from the Left, and then they marvel that Clinton talked for half an hour. Amanpour claims Trump would have hung up at the first difficult question. As if Amanpour's ever taken a… pic.twitter.com/kUuuDbr0Mx
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) August 3, 2026
Amanpour: ….he got all slightly bent out of shape, that you were taking the conversation into journalistic territory and not just a PR agent for get out the vote. But he also stayed and engaged with you for about 30 minutes.
Goodman: That's right. I mean, this was an astounding moment….most importantly, yes, he stayed on. And then he said he had to get off. And then I got a call from the White House. And they said they were going to ban me. And I said, what are you talking about? He called me. I didn't call him. And they said, you kept him on the phone for half an hour. I said, he's the leader of the free world. He can hang up if he wants to. But that's our job, not to be on bended knee to those in power, but ask the questions that so many people have.
Amanpour: Exactly. And I was -- actually I laughed when you said he could hang up whenever he wants, because, of course, Donald Trump likely would have hung up whenever he gets a question that he doesn't like or he's taken off on areas that journalists want to ask. He calls them fake news or whatever it is….
Whatever Trump’s weaknesses, press availability is not one of them.
Still more lavishly emetic gush ensued from Amanpour near the end, including her proudly admitting her bias toward Goodman’s vision of “independent media.”
PBS host Christiane Amanpour to radical journalist Amy Goodman: "It's a really powerful story that you tell. Your story is powerful. I really admire you fighting this great fight....I'm obviously, you know, an interested party. I make no apologies for it. It's great to see it." pic.twitter.com/RdhwueiiBY
— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) August 3, 2026
Amanpour: It's a really powerful story that you tell. Your story is powerful. I really admire you fighting this great fight. Well done, Tia, for making this film. And I think a lot of people will get a lot of energy out of watching how positive independent media can be. And you've done a great job. So, congratulations to both of you. I'm obviously, you know, an interested party. I make no apologies for it. It's great to see it.
