The Intercept Briefing

Media’s Biggest Failures


Listen Later

Few journalists have ventured as deep into the shadows of American power as The Intercept's James Risen. A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Risen waged a remarkable seven-year battle against the federal government to protect his sources, risking imprisonment to defend press freedom.

As he prepares to retire from journalism, he joins this week's Intercept Briefing to reflect on his extraordinary career with longtime friend and colleague David Bralow, The Intercept’s general counsel.

Recently, Risen has written extensively on Donald Trump and the dangers he poses to American democracy and is working on a new book about Christian nationalism and extremism. He warns about what lays ahead: “Trump has appointed a bunch of lunatics and conspiracy theorists to positions of power and he's turned the government over to oligarchs, so I think it's gonna get bad really, really fast.”

And Risen foresees that reporters and news organizations are at even more peril than in the past because of changing public attitudes and the legal approach embraced by those in power. “The wealthy can now use libel law against the press endlessly, not to try to win cases, but just to financially exhaust news organizations,” he says. “In most libel cases brought against news organizations, the other side almost never really cares about winning. What they want to do is impose large costs on news organizations to defend against frivolous libel suits.”

To hear more of the conversation, check out this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing.


If you want to support our work, you can go to theintercept.com/join. Your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Intercept BriefingBy The Intercept

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

6,042 ratings


More shows like The Intercept Briefing

View all
Democracy Now! Audio by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! Audio

5,641 Listeners

CounterSpin by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

CounterSpin

496 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,407 Listeners

Ralph Nader Radio Hour by Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

1,175 Listeners

The Katie Halper Show by Katie Halper

The Katie Halper Show

1,441 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,476 Listeners

Scheer Intelligence by Scheerpost

Scheer Intelligence

389 Listeners

The Nation Podcasts by The Nation Magazine

The Nation Podcasts

385 Listeners

Citations Needed by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson

Citations Needed

3,855 Listeners

Deconstructed by The Intercept

Deconstructed

4,260 Listeners

Murderville by The Intercept

Murderville

2,002 Listeners

Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté by Useful Idiots, LLC

Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

4,414 Listeners

Bad Faith by Briahna Joy Gray

Bad Faith

2,650 Listeners

Lever Time by The Lever

Lever Time

506 Listeners

The Chris Hedges Report by Chris Hedges

The Chris Hedges Report

39 Listeners

Drop Site News by Drop Site News

Drop Site News

295 Listeners