This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Amy Goodman is coming to town on Monday, and the timing couldn't be better.
The host and executive producer of the public radio program "Democracy Now!" will be at the Rose Wagner Theater to discuss her latest book — and, no doubt, talk about the upcoming election — in a benefit for station KRCL-90.9 FM.
Her show was born out of an election season two decades ago, a story she relates in the opening paragraphs of "Democracy Now! Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America."
"It was December 1995," Goodman wrote. "I was at an underground safe house in Haiti during the presidential election there, interviewing members of a political party who feared for their lives. I got a phone call from a colleague at the Pacifica Radio network, asking if I would be interested in hosting a new daily news hour that we had been developing, covering the 1996 presidential election."
Goodman said yes, and "Democracy Now!" was born.
She writes that she didn't expect the show to last beyond that election cycle, but it has been airing five times a week since it launched in February 1996. "Democracy Now!" currently airs on more than 1,400 radio and television stations, cable and satellite TV providers around the world.
The program is heard Monday-Friday at 7 p.m. on KRCL.
Goodman and co-host Juan Gonzalez have stirred up no small degree of controversy with their brand of investigative journalism and progressive politics. The chapter headings in the new book (co-written by Amy Goodman, David Goodman and Denis Moynihan) include "Undocumented and Unafraid," "Climate Justice," "The LGBTQ Revolution" and "When the Killer Wears a Badge."
Amy Goodman has never been afraid to be confrontational — President Bill Clinton once called her "hostile and combative." And she's not afraid to criticize the way democracy works — or doesn't work — in America.
As she does in the first few paragraphs of the new book, where she draws a contrast between Haitians, who have risked their lives to vote in national elections, and Americans, many of whom don't make it to the polls.
"Many have attributed low participation in U.S. elections to voter apathy," she wrote. "I have never believed this. The low turnout is directly related to the many obstacles put in place that deter people from voting (for example, holding elections on just one day when most people are working, limiting hours that polling places are open, or requiring photo identification that disproportionately disenfranchises poor people and people of color."
Proceeds from her appearance in Salt Lake City go to benefit KRCL. —
Amy Goodman benefit appearance
When • Monday, April 18, 7 p.m.
Where • Rose Wagner Theater, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $60 donation for two tickets; $180 donation for two VIP tickets, reception with Amy Goodman and signed book; proceeds benefit krcl.org