Author: Reporter

A crisis for democracy: Collapse of local news outlets accelerates despite efforts to save vital journalism

The decline of local news in the United States is speeding up despite attention paid to the issue, to the point where the nation has lost one-third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005. An average of 2.5 newspapers closed each week in 2023 compared to two a week the previous year, a reflection of an ever-worsening advertising climate, according to a Northwestern University study issued in November. Most are weekly publications, in areas with few or no other sources for news. “My concern is that the acceleration that we’re seeing is only going to...

Read More

Norman Lear: A legendary storyteller who changed TV in the 1970s and still impacts American life today

“Norman Lear’s legacy offers storytellers a road map for meeting the needs of Americans coming of age today. I believe that we need more storytellers who, like Lear, hold up a mirror to our world, showcasing its complexity and imperfections – both the good and the bad.” – Yalda T. Uhls, University of California In many American living rooms, the 1960s did not really begin until January 12, 1971. That was the night the comedy “All in the Family” debuted, almost instantly changing television and American society with it. Creator Norman Lear, who died at age 101 on December...

Read More

Former apartheid state files legal case with UN’s top court against Israel for acts of genocide in Gaza

South Africa launched a pivotal legal case on December 29 at the top court of the United Nations, accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It also asked the court to order Israel to halt its attacks, the first such challenge made at the court over the current war. South Africa has been a fierce critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Many there, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have compared Israel’s policies regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation. Israel rejects such allegations. The filing and Israel’s decision...

Read More

Putin begins 2024 by launching terror attack with estimated $1.17B of missiles on Ukrainian civilians

Ukraine’s two largest cities came under attack on January 2 from Russian missiles that killed five people and injured as many as 130, officials said, as the war approached its two-year mark and the Kremlin stepped up its winter bombardment of urban areas. Air defenses shot down all 10 of the Russian Kinzhal missiles, which can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, out of about 100 of various types that were launched, said General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief. But other missiles got through in Kyiv and in Kharkiv, the provincial capital of the northeastern region. In Kyiv...

Read More

Survivors lose a lifetime’s possessions in seconds as missiles destroy more apartment buildings in Kyiv

With trembling hands and labored breath, Serhii Slobodiannyk meticulously searched his fire-damaged apartment, seeking to salvage any of his family’s treasured belongings following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv. “Everything I had worked for over 30 years was destroyed in less than a second,” says Slobodiannyk, still dressed in the clothes he managed to throw on in his burning apartment on January 2. He and his wife, Olena, had moved into the building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district in 1984. Now the structure is uninhabitable — ravaged by fire, part of its facade torn off, and a huge crater gouged...

Read More

Americans disagree about political threats but do believe the 2024 election will be pivotal for democracy

In a politically polarized nation, Americans seem to agree on one issue underlying the 2024 elections, a worry over the state of democracy and how the outcome of the presidential contest will affect its future. They just disagree over who poses the threat. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk depending on who wins next fall. Majorities of Democrats (72%) and Republicans (55%) feel the same way, but for different reasons. President Joe Biden has attempted to paint a dystopian future...

Read More