Democracy Now!
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As the Death Toll Rises in Iraq…
Amy Goodman ‘Peace Correspondent’ Speaks Out
Drawing Standing Room Only Crowds Across Country

Award-winning Democracy Now! Radio/TV Host
& Author of NY Times Best-Selling Book*
The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, & the Media That Love Them
70-City SRO Tour Hits Chicago May 21

WHEN: FRIDAY MAY 21, 12:30pm

WHERE: Border's Books & Music
150 North State Street, Chicago

For more information: (312) 606-0750

WHAT: Amy Goodman, acclaimed host of Pacifica Network’s Democracy Now!, will speak, sign her best-selling new book: 'The Exception to the Rulers'.

CHICAGO, IL— Democracy Now! award-winning host and author, Amy Goodman's, 70 -city national tour is sweeping the county. It was standing room only at the book launch in New York where hundreds were turned away, Los Angeles drew over 2000, in Minneapolis 1400, and in Fresno, CA, widely considered a conservative farming town, drew an unexpected crowd of nearly 1000.

Goodman, who has criticized 'mainstream media' for excluding anti-war voices in the weeks leading to the war in Iraq, is broadcasting Democracy Now!, her daily national radio/TV show from the road. Democracy Now! is the largest public media collaboration in North America, broadcasting on over 220 radio and television stations nationwide.

In Chicago, Democracy Now! can be seen and heard on the following stations: Chicago WZRD 88.3 FM 7-8 a.m., 8-9 a.m., M-F Across the U.S. Free Speech TV, channel 9415 DISH network (satellite TV) M-S: 7-8am (live), Noon-1pm, 6-7pm, 11pm-Midnight CT.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOUR COVERAGE:

'As Big Media goes ever more corporate, says Goodman, the public hungers for independent outlets. Her program may be proof of that: “Democracy Now!” has grown astronomically in a short period. Two years ago it was on several dozen community radio stations. Today, it can be heard and seen on more than 225 Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates, including a few National Public Radio stations and public access television'.- Newsweek April 27, 2004

'The release of 'The Exception to the Rulers' and the elevated fervor surrounding Goodman come as President Bush is under increased scrutiny about the war in Iraq, particularly as U.S casualties are rising and comparisons to the Vietnam War are being made. Goodman's devotees said she challenged the decision to go to war in Iraq when much of the mainstream media did not.' -Los Angeles Times April 21, 2004

‘Grizzled literary veterans invariably bemoan the rigors of a book tour -- but those are affairs that normally encompass about a dozen cities at a crack…. Goodman, 47, is not only making 70 (!) stops for book signings, she is also doing her normally New York City-based daily shw along the way -- and attending fundraisers for the (community) stations that carry it.’ - Minneapolis Star Tribune 4/24

'Though her (Goodman) slightly gravelly voice is heard in almost every radio market in America, Goodman is self-effacing. 'I think I represent a lot of community broadcasters. I just connect the dots,' she said in a telephone interview from Boston, one stop on her national tour.'- Salt Lake Tribune May 2, 2004

'I think there is an obsession with reality TV because people are tired of untrue media,' (Amy) Goodman suggests. 'People are tired of fabrication. Well, we need some reality TV when it comes to war. We need to see the ugly, human face of war -- which is burned bodies, which is sheared-off limbs. And when we see that on both sides -- Iraqi babies and U.S. servicemen and -women -- I think war will be eradicated.'- Riverfront Times April 21, 2004

'She (Goodman) anticipates an energized, wide- awake citizenry - an America sick and tired of being duped by the clueless, powerful clods, Republican and, yes, Democratic, who run things. 'More and more people are saying no to government lies, corporate greed and a slavish media,' her book says. 'The silenced majority is finding its voice.'- Newsday April 21, 2004

Goodman: 'We were raised to question authority, to think independently, to value education, to critically question everything. I think those are pretty good principles for a journalist to live by, and that's what we do. The whole model of exception to the rulers is that it shouldn't just address the Pacificas or Democracy Nows!, it should be all the media.' - Houston Chronicle May 4, 2004

*The Exceptions to the Rulers on Bestseller Lists
The New York Times Extended Bestseller List #24
San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller List #5
Booksense National Bestseller List #15
Boulder Daily Camera Bestseller List #2

FOR More Information Visit: democracynow.org/book

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