Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard honored Goodman with the 2014 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.” She is the first co-recipient of the Park Center for Independent Media’s Izzy Award, named for the great muckraking journalist I.F. Stone, and was later selected for induction into the Park Center’s I.F. Stone Hall of Fame. The Independent of London called Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! “an inspiration.”

Goodman has co-authored six New York Times bestsellers. Her latest, Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America, looks back over the past two decades of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world. Before than, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope, and Breaking the Sound Barrier, both written with Denis Moynihan, give voice to the many ordinary people standing up to corporate and government power. She co-authored her first three bestsellers with her brother, journalist David Goodman: Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (2008), Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back (2006) and The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them (2004). She co-writes a weekly column with Denis Moynihan (also produced as an audio podcast) syndicated by King Features, for which she was recognized in 2007 with the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.

Goodman has received the Society for Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence; American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award; the Paley Center for Media’s She’s Made It Award; and the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. Her reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s Meet the Press. PULSE named Goodman one of the 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009.

She has also received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman received the first ever Communication for Peace Award from the World Association for Christian Communication. She was also honored by the National Council of Teachers of English with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Juan González

Juan González has been a professional journalist for more than 40 years and was a staff columnist at the New York Daily News from 1987 to 2016. He is a two-time recipient of the George Polk Award for commentary (1998 and 2010) and was inducted into the Deadline Club’s New York Journalism Hall of Fame in 2015. A professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University from 2017 to 2023, he is currently a Senior Fellow at the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

González is one of the founders and a past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and a member of NAHJ’s Hall of Fame. During his term as NAHJ president, González created the Parity Project, an innovative program that created partnerships between local communities and media organizations to improve coverage of the Latino community and to recruit and retain more Hispanic journalists. He also spearheaded a movement among U.S. journalists to join other citizen groups in opposing the Federal Communications Commission’s deregulation of media ownership restrictions.

A founding member of the Young Lords Party in the 1970s and of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights in the 1980s, González has twice been named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the country’s most influential Hispanics and has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Puerto Rican Coalition.

He is the author of five books, including: the classic Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (2000, second edition 2011, third edition 2022), which has been required reading in hundreds of college courses for decades and even spawned an award-winning documentary film narrated by González; News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media,” (2012) co-authored with Joseph Torres, which was a New York Times best-seller and finalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award; and Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse (2002), which chronicles his work as the first reporter to uncover health hazards at Ground Zero after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the subsequent as cover-ups of the dangers by the Environmental Protection Agency and other government officials. His latest book, Reclaiming Gotham: Bill de Blasio and the Movement to End America’s Tale of Two Cities, explores the rise of a new generation of progressive municipal leaders and offers valuable lessons for those seeking grassroots reform.

Over the years, more than two dozen feature films and documentaries have featured González as a figure or expert commentator, including: the landmark PBS series Latino Americans (2013); the PBS documentary 9/11’s Unsettled Dust (2021); Takeover (2021), on the occupation by the Young Lords of a South Bronx hospital to protest poor health services; the CNN series 1968: The Year that Changed America, (2018); the Media Education Foundation’s Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype (2012); the Ric Burns history of Latino New York, Nueva York (2010); the PBS biography Roberto Clemente (2008); Spike-TV’s Viva Baseball (2005).

Sharif Abdel Kouddous

Sharif Abdel Kouddous is a Democracy Now! correspondent and a fellow at The Nation Institute. Sharif grew up in Cairo, Egypt. In his role as a Senior Producer for Democracy Now!, Sharif was one of the leading voices globally covering the Egyptian revolution in 2011. He has covered news stories around the world with Democracy Now!, including reporting from Baghdad during the Iraq war, New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Haiti in the days after the January 2010 earthquake and from the Democratic and Republican conventions in 2004 and 2008. Sharif has also reported from Syria, Libya, Yemen, Gaza, Bahrain, and Algeria.

Sam Alcoff

In his role as TV Producer at Democracy Now!, Sam Alcoff has produced news from the front lines of marches, protests, and breaking news events from New York City, Paris, Durban South Africa, Marrakech, and more, as well as numerous Democratic and Republican conventions. He has nearly two decades of experience working in independent New York media. Prior to joining Democracy Now! in 2011, Sam worked with Deep Dish TV, New York City’s Independent Media Center’s IndyVideo, and was the director of GRITtv with Laura Flanders.

Brendan Allen

Brendan Allen has led Democracy Now!’s archive department since 2011. He attended the School of Visual Arts and received a BA in English Literature and Media Studies from the University of New Mexico. Before joining Democracy Now!, Brendan worked as a video librarian for Black Entertainment Television in 1998 and then moved to Public Broadcasting Service in Alexandria, VA, where he worked as the library media coordinator. In 2006, Brendan earned a Master’s in Library Information Science at Pratt Institute, while working as the Senior Archivist for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in New York City.

Tey-Marie Astudillo

Over the past ten years, Tey has covered current events and breaking news from across the U.S. and around world. Her work encompasses a diverse range of issues, from presidential elections and immigration to the climate crises and mass shootings, including that at her former high school Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Prior to becoming a TV Producer at Democracy Now!, Tey was a stringer for the international video news agency Ruptly and also freelanced for various other outlets with work featured on McClatchy, CNN, RT, The Military Times, AOL Politics Daily, Scripps Newspapers and Yahoo News, among others. Tey received her master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia and Communication Studies from Florida Atlantic University.

Mike Burke

Mike Burke is the longest-standing producer at Democracy Now! In addition to his work on the show he helped found The Indypendent a monthly social and economic justice newspaper based in New York.

Julie Crosby

Julie joined Democracy Now! as General Manager in 2006. Before that she was part of the team at Free Speech TV, a national independent television network, and spent a year as a Fulbright scholar.

Ishmael N. Daro

Ishmael N. Daro is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience in web publishing, social media and podcasting. Before joining Democracy Now! in 2019, Ishmael worked as a reporter for BuzzFeed News covering Islamophobia, online disinformation and social justice issues.

Erin Dooley

Erin Dooley has more than a decade of fundraising experience in the non-profit sector and has helped to sustain and grow a variety of organizations—from those focused on improving public education and the environment to organizations that champion the visual arts. Just prior to her arrival at Democracy Now!, Erin served as the Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement at The Studio Museum in Harlem, the international nexus for contemporary artists of African descent. Erin earned her BA in Political Science and Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College and her MA in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University. Erin lives in New York with her husband and two stepchildren.

Hana Elias

Hana Elias is the Video News Production Fellow at Democracy Now!. Prior to that she was a freelance video journalist and editor working between Occupied Palestine, Israel, and Jordan, where she produced videos with 7iber, Jerusalem Story, and Uncivilized Media. As a writer, she has been published in the Nation and +972 Mag for her reporting on Israeli settler violence towards Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest. As a documentary filmmaker, Hana was awarded the best pitch in March 2024 at Thessaloniki Film Festival for her first feature documentary in development entitled “If These Stones Could Talk,” a personal film on the interrelationships between Palestinian agrarian heritage and identity in diaspora. Hana graduated from the Columbia Journalism School in 2019, where she was awarded the Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium fellowship for “Holding Fire” a short documentary that she co-directed.

Renée Feltz

Renée Feltz has worked with Democracy Now! since 2011. Prior to her work with Democracy Now!, she co-founded the Houston Independent Media Center and served as News Director at KPFT-FM. She has reported with The New York Times investigative unit, where she contributed to a Pulitzer Prize nominated report, as well as PBS Wide Angle and the Texas Observer. Renée graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with a focus on investigative reporting and was a 2010 Soros Justice Fellow. She was a finalist for the 2010 IRE Award and received the Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York. Renée is an instructor with People’s Production House, and is an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College.

Emily Gosselin

Emily Gosselin joined the Democracy Now! Development team in 2019. Previously, Emily worked in restaurants, taught swimming lessons, volunteered with the Legal Aid Society and hiked the Appalachian Trail. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College. In her spare time, she enjoys taking leisurely walks with her dog.

Deena Guzder

Deena Guzder has reported on human rights across the globe. Her work has appeared in Time, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, National Geographic, Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, and elsewhere. She holds a BA in Peace & Conflict Studies from Oberlin College as well as advanced degrees in journalism and international affairs from Columbia University. She is the author of the book Divine Rebels, which profiles the Religious Left in the United States. In 2010, she traveled with the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, His Eminence Shyalpa Rinpoche, across Nepal and Bhutan while editing his collection of oral teachings, Living Fully. And, she previously assisted Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges with research for his book, Death of the Liberal Class.

John Hamilton

John has spent over a decade working in independent media and has been with Democracy Now! since 2004. His wide range of news and video production experience has included working as a news anchor at Pacifica Evening News on KPFA and producing television and web programs for Link TV. As a member of Democracy Now!'s production team, John has played an integral role in field productions in such places as Qatar, Norway, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Denmark, Morocco and Western Sahara. John's work with Democracy Now! has been recognized by the United Nations Correspondents Association (2016 Gold Medal) as well as the Society for Professional Journalists (2017 Sigma Delta Chi Award).

Iván Hincapié

Iván Hincapié joined Democracy Now! en Español as an intern in 2019, while finishing his studies at Hunter College, where he obtained his Certificate in Translation. He worked as a Bartender before Democracy Now!, as well as a freelance translator for different organizations in New York. He studied Spanish and Literature in his native town Pereira, Colombia, where he was also one of the organizers of the “Luna de Locos” National Poetry Festival. After moving to New York in 2002, he joined Poetas en Nueva York, a collective of Latin American artists, and helped establish the “Poetas en Nueva York” International Poetry Festival. He enjoys live music, hiking, and movies, as well as using his translation skills to bring stories to Spanish-speaking people all over the world.

Clara Ibarra

Clara Ibarra earned her degrees in Political Science and Economics in her hometown, Bogotá, Colombia where she worked as a research assistant in projects that use images as sources of investigation for the writing of social history. She came to NYC in 2006 to pursue a MA in Media Studies, since then she has been working in the production of multimedia endeavors that involve education and the telling of stories. Currently she is coordinating the Spanish programing at Democracy Now!, working with the media outlets that broadcast or publish Democracy Now! en Español around the world. Clara is interested in story telling projects to connect and empower people through a more social use of media.

Angie Karran

Angie Karran is a former Democracy Now! producer and award-winning radio and documentary video producer. Her radio programs have been aired on the Pacifica Network and on community radio stations around the country. She studied sociology and has worked in media education, research and activism. Angie is from Guyana, South America and has three children.

Robby Karran

Robby is part of Democracy Now!’s TV Production unit, editing long form pieces and clips for broadcast. Robby also works with the archive, where he helps to watch, listen, record and catalog the contents of our video and audio collection. Robby is certified in the IT field as a PC Technician and a Network Administrator.

Kristine Mar

Kristine Mar joined Democracy Now! in 2022. Previously, Kristine was part of the digital team at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union. She studied Public Policy and Economics at Brown University.

Narmeen Maria

Narmeen Maria joined Democracy Now! in 2020. Prior, she spent several years at South Asian Youth Action! working with children and serving as a counselor in their youth empowerment programs. She holds a BA from Brooklyn College, where she studied History and Gender Studies. In her spare time Narmeen enjoys painting, volunteering with animals, and tending to her plants.

Hany Massoud

Hany is the proud father of Ismael, Sofian, Zakariah, Qasim and Aminah and husband to Ayesha. He is the first US-born member of his family after his parents immigrated from Egypt. He has been with Democracy Now! since 2007 and has covered international stories such as the global climate catastrophe, the 2011 uprising in Egypt, the Gaza Flotilla, and the return of exiled presidents Aristide (Haiti) and Zelaya (Honduras). He received an Emmy for his work in the HBO documentary, In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution. Locally, he has also been on the ground with the DN! team covering the Black Lives Matter movement, the fight for migrant rights at the US border, and the stripping of civil liberties spawned from the “War on Terror.” Prior to Democracy Now!, Hany was the Morning Chief Editor at KHOU/CBS in Houston and worked as International TV Bureau Liaison out of the United Nations. He develops programs that converge youth development, civic engagement and media literacy for an after school program he co-founded with his wife called Justice By the Pen.

Igor Moreno Unanua

Igor is a half-Spanish, half-Colombian journalist from Pamplona, Spain. He started his career as a TV reporter in Barcelona, covering the Indignados uprising of 2011. Since then, he’s photographed demonstrations from Occupy Wall Street, Ayotzinapa and the Puerto Rican financial crisis, to immigrants’ rights rallies. His writing has appeared in many publications including The Volunteer and Diagonal/El Salto. Igor joined the Democracy Now! en Español team in 2012. He enjoys spending time with family & friends over a good meal and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Libe, and son, Adrián.

Denis Moynihan

Denis Moynihan has worked with Democracy Now! since 2000. He is a bestselling author and a syndicated columnist with King Features. He lives in Colorado, where he founded community radio station KFFR 88.3 FM in the town of Winter Park.

Charina Nadura

Charina Nadura first joined Democracy Now! in 2012 as an intern and later became a Democracy Now! Video Production Fellow in 2013, while finishing her undergraduate degree at CUNY Brooklyn College, and began working as a Democracy Now! TV Producer in 2016. She previously worked as a Digital Assistant for Billmoyers.com a news/essay/video site of journalist Bill Moyers. Charina was born in the Philippines. She lives in Brooklyn with her beautiful son Artchan.

Diana Parra

Diana Parra joined Democracy Now! as a People and Culture Manager. She brings years of experience in HR and operations within the non-profit sector. Just prior to her arrival at Democracy Now!, she spent several years at Literacy Trust supporting the talent, operations and culture team. She holds a BA from Montclair State University, where she studied Political Science. In her spare time, Diana enjoys baking and spending time outdoors with her son and partner.

Isis Phillips

A BFA graduate of Marymount College, Isis Phillips has a passion for art and has photographed extensively in New York City and around the world. Isis was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Marangoni Studio in Florence, Italy. Her combined interest in economics, art and activism has led to her current position as the Finance Manager at Democracy Now! She also photographed “One Day in the Life of Democracy Now!” in Clamor Magazine (May/June 2004, Issue 26) and was curator of the Independent Media Photojournalism Exhibition at Gigantic Artspace (August 2004). Isis’s work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions.

Jon Randolph

Jon joined Democracy Now! in 2003 as an in-studio camera operator. He has since played a number of roles within the organization including Broadcast Engineering and Facilities Management. In addition to working on the daily broadcast, Jon has freelanced as a crew member on a number of commercial and independent film and television productions. Over the past two decades, he has produced and directed corporate video content as well as a number of fundraising videos for both local and international non-profit organizations. In 2011, he traveled extensively in Haiti documenting a medical mission one year after the 2010 earthquake. He returned to Haiti a year later as a volunteer, and made a film that was used as the center piece of a fundraising campaign that would eventually raise enough money to build a medical clinic in the rural town of Cavillion. Throughout his career Jon has tried to align himself with individuals and organizations that are mission driven and understand the important role media plays in informing and influencing society at large.

Yusra Razouki

Yusra joined Democracy Now!’s Development department as the Major Gifts Officer. Prior to joining the team, she’s done fundraising and communications for a variety of organizations, focused on issues ranging from labor rights to climate advocacy. She holds a BA in Media Studies from Hunter College and lives in New Jersey. In her free time, Yusra enjoys documentary film, travel, and volunteering with local mutual aid groups.

Messiah Rhodes

Messiah Rhodes was separated from his parents at four and homeless by 16 when he began using his passion for writing and filmmaking to build community and to process life’s toughest times. He started a career in the film industry at 17, doing grip and electric work, which helped him get out of the shelter and independence. As an independent video journalist, producer, cameraman, and editor, He has brought his talents to BET, VICE Media, Democracy Now!, and the NYC Department of Homeless Services. Messiah Rhodes recently produced a two-part documentary series for Al Jazeera called “AGAINST ALL ODDS” He also co-hosts and produces Act.tv livestream Black Power Magic Hour.

Nermeen Shaikh

Nermeen Shaikh is a producer and co-host of Democracy Now! Nermeen has previously worked in research and non-governmental organizations and has an M.Phil. from Cambridge University. She is the author of The Present as History: Critical Perspectives on Global Power (Columbia University Press). You can watch her TEDx talk here

Neil Shibata

Neil Shibata has been with Democracy Now! since 2004. He earned a degree in French Literature from UC Berkeley, which included a detour at Université Lumière Lyon II, Institut d’Études Politiques. Neil relocated to New York from Oakland, California, where he spent the preceding eight years as a litigation paralegal, working for victims of corporations that place(d) profit before the safety and health of its workers and the public. Neil is an associate editor of Tokyo-based music magazine Beikoku-Ongaku.

María Inés Taracena

María Inés Taracena is an award-winning journalist from Guatemala. When she was 13 years old, María Inés migrated with her family to Tucson, Arizona. After getting a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arizona, María Inés joined the Arizona Public Media team, Tucson’s NPR affiliate, as an online editor and radio reporter. She later became a staff writer and reporter at the Tucson Weekly, where María Inés wrote about immigration, the U.S.-Mexico border and local politics. After a few years in the field, María Inés completed a masters degree in Latin American Studies. Her latest project as an independent journalist, La Caravana de la Resistencia, was published on NACLA in 2018, narrating the stories of the first LGBTQI caravan of asylum seekers from Central America.

Tami Hamada Woronoff

Tami began working as a Democracy Now! News Producer in 2018. She brings years of experience in the world of production, and has worked in visual effects, as a film festival programmer, and a documentary producer. Before joining the Democracy Now! team, Tami was a producer and general manager at The Laura Flanders Show. She holds a BA in Political Studies and Social Anthropology and an MA in Social Anthropology from SOAS, University of London.