©Courtesy of DOC NYC
Making sense of the world by finding emotion and meaning in unexpected places is a vital trait of two of the leading, powerful pillars of truth-seekers – documentary filmmakers and journalists. Reporter Amy Goodman shares her fearless reporting on global injustices, media consolidation and the fight for independent journalism in the new documentary, Steal This Story, Please!.
Carl Deal and Tia Lessin directed and produced the new film, after they previously helmed the 2013 documentary, Citizen Koch. In their first documentary together in over a decade, the Oscar-winning filmmakers disclose Goodman’s vital journalistic research. The movie exposes why mainstream media all too frequently support officials instead of holding them accountable
Steal This Story, Please! follows Goodman, who’s undeterred by armed soldiers, smooth-talking politicians and riot police, as she explores some of the most consequential in modern history. The trailblazing reporter’s unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history.
From the frontlines of global conflicts to the organized chaos of her daily news show Democracy Now!, Goodman broadcasts stories and voices routinely silenced by commercial media. As the granddaughter of an Orthodox rabbi, she was raised in a tradition of asking hard questions. Those inquires help her navigate a news political landscape.
Goodman points out that society, especially the media, has long been reshaped by technology, corporate consolidation and political assaults on truth itself. So she sets out a call to action for everyone to never forget what happens when the press surrenders to the government.
Lessin and Deal thrive in their ability to craft documentaries that directly address social and political issues, without fear of consequence. The duo effortlessly chronicle stories about women like Goodman who find their power through pursuing the truth.
Mona Davis expertly edited Steal This Story Please! as a structured series of key stories Goodman has covered in her career. Those stories include home videos and photos of her participation in the WBAI radio station campaign to release death-row prisoner Moreese Bickham from Angola State Penitentiary in 1996. The movie also highlights her coverage of the Jewish Voice for Peace protest at New York City’s Grand Central Station in November 2023.
Steal This Story, Please! emphasizes how courageous reporting mobilizes pressure against injustice and effects change through interviews with colleagues and Goodman herself. The discusses showcase how Goodman is not only a passionate advocacy journalist, but also a well-navigated professional who uses whatever tricks she needs to obtain her story.
Yet what elevates Steal This Story, Please! beyond a straightforward biographical documentary is how deftly it interrogates the broader failures of mainstream press. Using Goodman’s remarkable life and career as the framework, the film ponders what happens to democracy when the press surrenders to power. In an age of media consolidation, algorithmic news feeds and political disinformation campaigns, Lessin and Deal’s storytelling explores the all-important question that reverberates through every frame.
The filmmakers also offer an intimate examination into Goodman’s personal life as she enjoys the freedom of the press she has so long championed throughout her career. The journalist walks her dog Zazu and shares irreverent jokes. Some of the most endearing moments in the movie are when she visits a cemetery in Ukraine where her Jewish relatives, Holocaust victims, are buried.
These moments aren’t sentimental flourishes; instead, they’re essential to understanding how the wisecracking granddaughter of an Orthodox rabbi became one of America’s most fearless truth-tellers.
The directors have shared that they’re drawn to stories about people who find their power through action. Goodman embodies that idea with a ferocity that is both inspiring and sobering.
In a media culture that’s often more concerned with access than accountability, the journalist is a noteworthy rebuke to complacency. She endlessly chases stories that commercial outlets find inconvenient or unprofitable.
The film’s opening sequence, with Goodman immediately probing the October 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza, highlights that instinct. She asked questions about the situation that mainstream outlets would delay or sidestep altogether.
The film is both a celebration of resistance and a call to action. It serves as a reminder that journalism is not simply a profession but a public trust.
Deal and Lessin have built a compelling case for why Goodman’s titular rallying cry is more than a clever title. It is a philosophy rooted in the belief that journalism is only meaningful when shared, amplified and used to hold power accountable. In that spirit, the film stands as a testament to how courageous reporting can mobilize public pressure and spark real change.
Steal This Story, Please! is urgent, resonant and at times unexpectedly funny. The documentary honors Goodman not only as an untouchable icon; it also a journalist whose clarity of purpose and audacity to tell the truth feel more essential now than ever before.
Overall: A-
Steal this Story, Please! served as a Centerpiece Screening last month during DOC NYC. The film made its New York Premiere during the festival at the SVA Theatre on November 13, 2025 .
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