Arabic version: فيلم وثائقي يتتبع مهمة إيمي غودمان في الإعلام المستقل

According to ABC News, documentary Steal This Story, Please! follows Democracy Now! founder Amy Goodman and her pursuit of truth and justice. Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, the film will screen at the Adelaide Film Festival before opening in Australian cinemas nationally from October 22.

The documentary opens at the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, where Goodman pursues a Trump climate adviser who declines to answer questions about Donald Trump’s description of climate change as “a hoax”. Goodman has led the New York-based world news briefing Democracy Now! for 30 years and says the outlet is committed to media as “a sanctuary of dissent”.

Goodman said Democracy Now! began in 1996 in a broom closet and was syndicated to nine community radio stations. It now broadcasts to more than 1,500 public radio and television stations globally and streams online. She criticised what she calls “corporate media”, saying people need ways to learn about the world beyond a corporate lens.

Lessin and Deal said they finance and produce their films independently because of concerns about editorial influence from corporate donors. The filmmakers, who were Oscar-nominated for Trouble the Water, said Goodman has long warned about media consolidation. Their film also examines her reporting in East Timor, Nigeria and at Ground Zero, as well as her coverage of global protests and upheavals.

Goodman said the title is an invitation to share reporting rather than treat it as proprietary. She said journalists should amplify people who are risking their lives, imprisoned, facing threats to their livelihood or unable to tell their own stories. “We have to go to where the silence is to get that story,” she said.