This week, we focus our attention on a nationwide effort to shine a light on threats to democracy and a free press in the United States. We are currently facing an unrelenting test of our democracy, a clear and present threat to our constitutional rights and journalists’ ability to do their jobs. As our American democracy inches closer to a possible democratic breakdown in 2024, the magnitude of that threat isn’t well-understood. More journalism scholars and members of the press are speaking up and saying, "This threat isn’t being taken seriously enough by our elected officials or, in important ways, by journalism leaders within our most influential mainstream media." In some cases, elected officials are part of the anti-democratic efforts and aren’t being held accountable. It’s time for journalists to step up and do more.
Democracy Day is an effort to draw attention to this crisis, provide the public with the context and information they need, and bring all types of media together to sound the alarm collectively.
Partners in this effort include the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Center for Cooperative Media, the Center for Public Integrity, Chicago Sun-Times, Nieman Reports / Nieman Foundation, Online News Association, San Francisco Public Press, Society for Professional Journalists, Solutions Journalism Network, The 19th, USA Today, The Salt Lake Tribune, WNYC and over a hundred other news organizations.
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Anne Nelson, an author and research scholar at the Saltzman Institute at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), will join us to discuss all of this and the news of the week on @Sree’s Sunday #NYTReadalong. Neil Parekh will be the guest host. We will be live on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and our Digimentors website at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning. If you can’t watch live, you can watch on demand at your convenience.
Anne is the author of several books, including “Shadow Network: Media, Money, & the Secret Hub of the Radical Right.”
Journalist Carole King, a Democracy Day organizer, was an associate producer for this week’s show.
Democracy Day Links
#DemocracyDay News Stories (link)
Solutions Journalism Network's Twitter Thread (link)
"Beyond the ‘Democracy Desk’: Why U.S. newsrooms need to become explicitly pro-democracy" by Jay Rosen (link)
US Democracy Day Partners (link)
The New York Times
‘A Crisis Coming’: The Twin Threats to American Democracy (link)
We have been reviewing the print edition of the Sunday New York Times for six and a half years.
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Neil Parekh is the executive producer and occasional guest host. Paula Kiger helps produce the show, engaging with the audience on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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