25 must-follow people in pro-democracy media

One way to fight negativity is to lift up inspirational voices

Negativity is a trap we can fall into during times like these. But we need to stay optimistic and motivated if we’re going to defeat the criminals who are trying to steal our country.

Here’s my subjective list of 25 bright stars of pro-democracy media, in no particular order, plus honorable mentions at the end.

1. Greg Sargent

   No political commentator finds sharper news angles than Sargent, who writes for The New Republic and hosts its Daily Blast podcast.

2. Heather Cox Richardson

   The Boston College history professor has nearly 3 million subscribers to her Letters from an American newsletter. She’s earned that attention with incisive analysis of today’s politics, often with a historical perspective.

3. Jamelle Bouie

   The best political columnist, bar none, at the New York Times. He’s also excellent on Bluesky.

4. Margaret Sullivan

   The former Buffalo News editor, New York Times public editor, and Washington Post media columnist is one of the most sensible people doing journalism criticism today. She writes the American Crisis newsletter and also is a columnist for The Guardian. Check out her most recent piece. It’s excellent.

5. Allison Gill

   A savvy commenter on Donald Trump’s governmental scams who gained social media fame as “Mueller, She Wrote” but now goes by her name, Gill founded the MSW Media podcasting network.

6. Aaron Rupar

   I don’t know how Rupar monitors so much video and posts it so quickly. It’s amazing he hasn’t burned out from listening to wall-to-wall right-wing disinformation. He and his team also write terrific essays for his Public Notice newsletter.

7. Judd Legum

   His well-researched Popular Information newsletter is billed as “news for people who give a damn.”

8. Nicolle Wallace

   No MS NOW host is better focused on the authoritarian threat to our country.

9. Jim Acosta

   CNN tried to shove him into an overnight shift. He left instead. Now he’s doing a podcast with straight talk about Trump’s abuses of power.

10. Marc Elias

    Elias is the nation’s No. 1 fighter in court against the Republicans assaulting our elections. His Democracy Docket keeps the public focused on the battlegrounds.

11. Katie Phang

    The former MSNBC host is an activist journalist. She does videos with the Meidas Touch Network and she has sued the Justice Department over its mishandling of the Epstein files.

12. Parker Molloy

    I hate that Molloy is so good at her job because she often writes about the same subject as me – journalists’ failure to confront bigotry and fascism. Her Present Age newsletter is a must read.

13. Marcy Wheeler

    Known as “Empty Wheel” on social media and her blog, Wheeler smartly explains developments in national security and civil liberties.

14. Angelo Carusone

    He’s the president and chief executive officer of Media Matters for America, which monitors extremism in right-wing media despite harassment from Elon Musk and Trump’s Federal Trade Commission.

15. 16. Amy Goodman and Juan González

    The hosts of the daily news hour “Democracy Now!” will make you smarter. I guarantee it.

17. Karen Attiah

    She edited the work of Jamal Khashoggi at the Washington Post before the Saudis murdered him. WaPo later fired her “for talking about race,” as she put it. She’s not shutting up.

18. Steven Beschloss

    I’ve done video segments with Beschloss in the past, and I know he’s a passionate fighter against MAGA fascism. He writes the America, America newsletter and does “Six Questions With Steven Beschloss” videos with Lincoln Square.

19. Oliver Darcy

    The former CNN reporter now runs the Status newsletter, which regularly breaks news about the news industry. It’s subscription-only, but worth it.

20. Nina Burleigh

    If you like a side dish of snark with your political commentary, Burleigh’s American Freakshow newsletter is right for you. She has one of the deepest and most sophisticated understandings of the Epstein scandal.

21. Radley Balko

    A leading voice exposing abuses in law enforcement, Balko writes The Watch newsletter and recently penned a New York Times op-ed headlined “ICE Is Out of Control. Here’s What to Do About It” (gift link).

22. Catherine Rampell

    MS NOW is on an upward track because of the addition of journalists like Rampell, who cuts through spin and delivers facts, however painful they may be. She’s also economics editor for The Bulwark.

23. Stephanie Miller

    Talk radio is dominated by the right, and progressive voices can sometimes seem sincere but sleepy. “The Stephanie Miller Show” is an exception. It’s freewheeling, funny, and aggressively anti-MAGA.

24. Rex Huppke

    Like Miller, Huppke uses humor to get his point across. I used to edit him at the Chicago Tribune. Now he’s fighting the good fight at USA Today.

25. Jen Rubin

    She was a conservative columnist for the Washington Post who realized that support for the American right was incompatible with support for decency and democracy. Rubin left WaPo and helped found The Contrarian.

Some honorable mentions: Brian Beutler, Kai Ryssdal, Aaron Parnas, Lawrence O’Donnell, Jay Rosen, Nancy Levine Stearns, Jennifer Schulze, Dan Froomkin, Edwin Eisendrath, Molly Jong-Fast, Jack Cocchiarella, Denny Carter, Susan J. Demas, Kyle Tharp, Jamison Foser, Ron Filipkowski, Jeff Jarvis, Josh Marshall, Ben Collins, John Fugelsang, Tara McGowan, Marisa Kabas, Jacob Soboroff, Asawin Suebsaeng, and Kevin M. Kruse.

If your favorite people are not listed here, please make your recommendations in the comments.

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This week’s media atrocity

Why don’t major media realize that when they start a headline with “Trump says …” they’re telling us to ignore the story? An Associated Press report last Wednesday was headlined, “Trump says deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday.” It didn’t. As of Sunday, “We are only semi-negotiating with them” … Trump says.

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