The author of the above comment doth protest too much. Amy, bless her heart, is main steam liberal, just the way her listeners like it. Broadcast journalism is essentially dead, In the US all is infotainment designed to cause the least disturbance to the world view of the.targeted demographic. In Amy's world the official conspiracy theory about 9/11 remains unquestioned for the comfort of her audience, for instance.

After glancing at your lengthy comment, MS, I expected to hear a whole 15 minutes devoted to a critique of popular left-liberal/progressive media, esp Democracy Now!

But all I heard from Doug Henwood today was a reference to a political/demographic group -- that is, people who listen to Amy Goodman and maybe read The Nation too. Sheesh. This wasn't even a dig at Goodman, nor was it criticism.

And so what if it had been?

Henwood frequently criticizes The Nation -- and I do mean criticize -- but it's often deserved. I criticize it too, and yet I've been reading and subscribing to 'The Nation' for over 25 years.

I must admit, I was really disappointed not to hear any criticism of Goodman's show. I find the lack of criticism in regard to her journalism to be truly bizarre. If anyone on the major networks had interviewing style like hers, the left would be all over it, and there'd probably be parodies on SNL too.

Let's face it, she is one of the worst interviewers in national broadcasting today. I cannot bear to listen anymore because every show is marred by long awkward silences as guests -- who naturally expect a series of questions -- just hear Goodman rattle off a long quote, followed by "your response please" or sometimes "your response please, you have 20 seconds left" (then she cuts off the guest and proceeds to spend a minute listing every media delivery method used by Democracy Now!).

But the longest and most awkward silences occur when a guest thinks that she's setting up an audio clip, when in fact, she's just trying to set up the guest, but without asking a question of the guest. In such cases, I find myself cringing with discomfort and embarrassment ...for the guest, maybe for Goodman herself, and definitely for the Left as a whole.

Goodman really seems to be incapable of asking questions like a normal interviewer. Without that basic skill, probing and critical (or critically-minded) interviews become an impossibility.

Then there is her fondness for saying big numbers, drawing out words like "hundreds" or "thousands" or "millions." Perhaps I am being overly critical, and taking a cheap shot here. But it just drives me nuts, and it even makes me doubt her accuracy.

And finally, I must correct something you write in your comment, Mr. MS. You claim that Democracy Now does investigative work. But I don't recall hearing (or hearing of) any investigative reports on Democracy Now. Amy Goodman's on-air partner Juan Gonzalez does sometimes do some investigative reporting for the NY Daily News, and then presents his analysis on Democracy Now, but those investigations cannot be attributed to Democracy Now.

(Btw, I wish Gonzalez would stick with print journalism, where he does some fine work. But in broadcast journalism, he's clumsy, and he's learning all the wrong lessons from Goodman. At the very least, he ought to find another mentor in broadcasting.)

I suspect, MS, that might be feeling apoplectic now. But remember, you brought up the subject.

Sean

My god, Mr. MS, you are a touchy & defensive sort, aren't you? After glancing at your lengthy comment, I expected to hear a whole 15 minutes devoted to a critique of popular left-liberal/progressive media, esp Democracy Now (oops, that's Democracy Now!).

But all I heard from Doug Henwood today was a reference to a political/demographic group -- that is, people who listen to Amy Goodman and maybe read The Nation too. Sheesh. This wasn't even a dig at Goodman, nor was it criticism.

And so what if it had been?

Henwood frequently criticizes The Nation -- and I do mean criticize -- but it's often deserved. I criticize it too, and yet I've been reading and subscribing to 'The Nation' for over 25 years.

I must admit, I was really disappointed not to hear any criticism of Goodman's show. I find the lack of criticism in regard to her journalism to be truly bizarre. If anyone on the major networks had interviewing style like hers, the left would be all over it, and there'd probably be parodies on SNL too.

Let's face it, she is one of the worst interviewers in national broadcasting today. I cannot bear to listen anymore because every show is marred by long awkward silences as guests -- who naturally expect a series of questions -- just hear Goodman rattle off a long quote, followed by "your response please" or sometimes "your response please, you have 20 seconds left" (then she cuts off the guest and proceeds to spend a minute listing every media delivery method used by Democracy Now!).

But the longest and most awkward silences occur when a guest thinks that she's setting up an audio clip, when in fact, she's just trying to set up the guest, but without asking a question of the guest. In such cases, I find myself cringing with discomfort and embarrassment ...for the guest, maybe for Goodman herself, and definitely for the Left as a whole.

Goodman really seems to be incapable of asking questions like a normal interviewer. Without that basic skill, probing and critical (or critically-minded) interviews become an impossibility.

Then there is her fondness for saying big numbers, drawing out words like "hundreds" or "thousands" or "millions." Perhaps I am being overly critical, and taking a cheap shot here. But it just drives me nuts, and it even makes me doubt her accuracy.

And finally, I must correct something you write in your comment, Mr. MS. You claim that Democracy Now does investigative work. But I don't recall hearing (or hearing of) any investigative reports on Democracy Now. Amy Goodman's on-air partner Juan Gonzalez does sometimes do some investigative reporting for the NY Daily News, and then presents his analysis on Democracy Now, but those investigations cannot be attributed to Democracy Now.

(Btw, I wish Gonzalez would stick with print journalism, where he does some fine work. But in broadcast journalism, he's clumsy, and he's learning all the wrong lessons from Goodman. At the very least, he ought to find another mentor in broadcasting.)

I suspect, Mr. MS, that you are feeling apoplectic right about now. Just remember, you brought up the subject. Nobody else did.

Sean

Your dig at Amy Goodman is a bit extreme. Her attack of Obama might be narrow and over the top, and I find that annoying, misplaced and coming from "somewhere" - where I don't know, but Democracy Now! does do some investigative work that you don't. You are analyzing information put out there...sometimes poorly and arrogantly. For example who is looking at the new revealation on how the US sent some of its so-called terrorists to Libya to be tortured with the full cooperation of the administration there. Are the guys in Bush-Cheney administration afraid now that the world will know? Is this why there was a specific agenda to overthrow Quadaffi?Hopefully this information will be taken by the administration seriously.

Don't forget that you are part of this "talk, talk, talk" punditry too! So keep your feet on the ground Doug, and your head way below the clouds! :)) About, are we reeling way out of control? Yes....when respectable investment firms, you know a few, are themselves are worrie, and report that even IRAs are not doing well it is scary beyond belief! Some serious arrests of some financial crooks, freezing their accounts, etc. has to occur right now. And big taxes possibly. But watch what riots that will create. Democrats are not claiming anything....I am a big critic of some of them too. But you guys are doing an Orwellian stuff that is scary....where you pretend you are criticizing Democrats, but you are really supporting Republicans. If you don't like what either party is doing then get a third party on your show. How come you don't?