Joy Reid & Dean Obeidallah: Will Journalists Choose to Save or Sink Democracy?

Synopsis:  A crime against journalism': Tune in as experts dissect corporate media's priorities - serving shareholders or informing voters?

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Description:  Journalism is at an inflection point. Under a hail of lawsuits, firings, new hires, and mercenary mergers, the business of media is in shambles even as the need for reliable, truthful information to reach voters is greater than ever. Where does that leave journalists? In this episode, Laura and her guests discuss the money media’s dangerous denials and obfuscations, the problem with bothsidesism in a time of fascism, and the coverage of Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis. Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer, writer, award-winning comedian and host of SiriusXM radio’s national daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show”. Joy Reid, formerly host of the award-winning ReidOut on MSNBC, is a best-selling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show on YouTube. The decline of legacy media isn’t all bad news — especially for those, like Palestinians and others, who were always shut out of it — and the rise of independent platforms, savvy media consumers and new mechanisms for collaboration just might usher in a new age of great journalism, just when we need it. Join Dean, Joy and Laura for this rich conversation on resistance, reporting, and survival.  [This conversation was recorded on January 14, 2026]

“What I would like corporate media to understand, their job is not to make money for shareholders and executives to get bonuses, but serve the people, make them smarter, even if it means losing access. I know that's a lot to ask, but that's what I would like because an educated, informed electorate is the key to saving this republic.” - Dean Obeidallah

“It is a crime against journalism for the editorial director of a news network to say our job is not to deliver the news, but to go viral. That's crazy.”- Joy Reid

Guests:

•  Dean Obeidallah: Host of SiriusXM radio's The Dean Obeidallah Show

• Joy Reid: Host of The Joy Reid Show

Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast January 28th, 2026.

Full Episode Notes are located HERE.

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Music Credits: “Life During Wartime” by Brooklyn Funk Essentials released on Dorado Records;  'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper'

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*Recommended book:

“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid: *Get the Book

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Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:

• Doxed, Stalked & Swatted: When the Far Right Goes After Journalists: Watch / Listen:  Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut

• Maysoon Zayid: Comedy of Resistance, Disability, Difference & Palestine:   Watch / Listen:  Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut

• Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency:  Watch / Listen:  Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut

• Masha Gessen & Jason Stanley: Is it Doomsday for U.S. Democracy?:  Watch / Listen:  Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut

Related Articles and Resources:

• ‘There was no warning’:  Joy Reid is speaking out about how she was fired from MSNBC, by Madeleine Marr, June 26, 2025, Miami Herald

•  Dean Obeidallah - Substack

•  ‘We Need to Be the News’:  Inside Bari Weiss’s Bumpy Revamp at CBS, by Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, January 13, 2026, New York Times

•  What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump? By Kevin Cullen, July 3, 2025, The Boston Globe

•  Nattering nabobs of news criticism:  50 years ago today, Spiro Agnew laid out a blueprint for attacking the press, by Thomas Alan Schwartz, November 13, 2019, NiemanLab

•  1964 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Journalism - Editorial Writing:  Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington, The Pulitzer Prices

•  MeidasTouch News - a pro-democracy news network.

•  Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow, by Ernesto Londono, January 13, 2026, New York Times

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