Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957)[2] is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author.

Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara, and Chevron Corporation's role in Nigeria.

Since 1996, she has been the main host of Democracy Now!, a progressive global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the Internet.

Amy Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island[7] to secular Jewish parents who were active in social action groups.

[15][16] In 1991, covering the East Timor independence movement, Goodman and fellow journalist Allan Nairn reported that they were badly beaten by Indonesian soldiers after witnessing a mass killing of Timorese demonstrators in what became known as the Santa Cruz massacre.

The documentary made by Goodman and her colleagues, Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, won the George Polk Award in 1998.

'"[20] Goodman had been news director of Pacifica Radio station WBAI in New York City for more than a decade when she co-founded Democracy Now!

[21] When President Bill Clinton called WBAI on Election Day 2000[24] for a quick get-out-the-vote message, Goodman and WBAI's Gonzalo Aburto challenged him for 28 minutes with human rights questions about AIM activist Leonard Peltier, racial profiling, the Iraq sanctions, Ralph Nader, the death penalty, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

[26] While trying to ascertain the status of her colleagues, Goodman was also arrested and held, accused of obstructing a legal process and interfering with a police officer.

[31] Goodman (et al.) filed a federal civil lawsuit against the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments and the US Secret Service for the illegal arrests.

[32][33][34] On November 25, 2009, Goodman and her two colleagues, Denis Moynihan and Chuck Scurich, were detained for approximately 90 minutes by Canadian agents at the Douglas, British Columbia border crossing into Canada while en route to a scheduled meeting at the Vancouver Public Library.

"[38] Goodman turned herself in to the Morton County sheriff on October 17, saying that she would be fighting the charges against her as a "clear violation" of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press.

[39] She was supported by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which issued a statement saying: "This arrest warrant is a transparent attempt to intimidate reporters from covering protests of significant public interest.

[...] Authorities in North Dakota should stop embarrassing themselves, drop the charges against Amy Goodman, and ensure that all reporters are free to do their jobs.

"[40] Steve Andrist, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, also expressed concern that a journalist was one of only two people covered by an arrest warrant from the day in question.

[49] In 1999, she declined to accept the Overseas Press Club Award, in protest at the group's pledge not to ask questions of keynote speaker Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and because the OPC was honoring Indonesia for its improved treatment of journalists despite the fact that its forces had recently beaten and killed reporters in occupied East Timor.

The Right Livelihood Award Foundation cited her work in "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".

(along with Laura Gottesdiener, John Hamilton and Denis Moynihan) received a Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists in the category of Breaking News Coverage (Network/Syndication Service/Program Service) for their piece, “Standoff at Standing Rock: Epic Native resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline.”[61] On February 14, 2019, she, and others, received the Frederick Douglass 200 award and was honored at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.