Laura Flanders

Laura Flanders (born 5 December 1961) is an award-winning broadcast journalist. She is the host and executive producer of The Laura Flanders Show, a weekly television and radio program that looks at real-life models of shifting power in the arts, economics and politics. A contributing writer to The Nation magazine and a  media fellow at the Democracy Collaborative, Flanders is also the author of six books, including The New York Times best-seller, BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004) and BLUE GRIT: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (Penguin Press, 2007). Flanders has described herself as a "lefty person."[1] The brothers Alexander, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn—all journalists—are her half uncles. Author Lydia Davis is her half-aunt. Her sister is Stephanie Flanders, a former BBC journalist.[2] Actress Olivia Wilde is her cousin.

Laura Flanders
Flanders on New York street
Born (1961-12-05) 5 December 1961
London, England, United Kingdom
Alma materBarnard College
OccupationJournalist, author, broadcaster
Known forJournalism
Partner(s)Elizabeth Streb
Parent(s)Michael Flanders
Claudia Cockburn
WebsiteFlanders' website

Early Life

Flanders is the daughter of the British comic songwriter and broadcaster Michael Flanders and the American-born Claudia Cockburn, first daughter of well-known radical journalist Claud Cockburn and American author Hope Hale Davis.[2] She grew up in the Kensington district of London and moved to the U.S. in 1980 at age 19.[3] She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1985 with a degree in history and women's studies.[4][5]

Career

Flanders has a history of trailblazing in the world of independent media. She was founding director of the women's desk at the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and for a decade produced and hosted CounterSpin, FAIR's syndicated radio program. In January 1993, she appeared on the ABC "Good Morning America" program as a spokesperson for FAIR to discuss how domestic violence increases during the annual Super Bowl.

Flanders hosted the weekday radio show Your Call on KALW, before starting the Saturday/Sunday evening Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio in 2004. It became the weekly one-hour Radio Nation in 2007, and a daily TV show on Free Speech TV, "GRITtv with Laura Flanders" in 2008. That show aired for three years on Free Speech TV before moving to KCET/Linktv and teleSUR, as a weekly program.[6]

Flanders is a contributing writer for The Nation, and Yes Magazine and has also contributed to In These Times, The Progressive and Ms. Magazine.

She has published six books, including Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (Penguin Press 2007); Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004), a study of the women in George W. Bush's cabinet; and a collection of essays, Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting (1997). She edited "At The Tea Party...." (O/R Books 2010) and The W Effect: Sexual Politics in the Age of Bush (2004) and contributed to The Contenders, (Seven Stories, 2008) among others.

In 2008, Flanders began hosting and executive producing The Laura Flanders Show. The show has received significant critical acclaim.

Awards
Award Year Organization
Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her work in independent media[7] 2019 Lannan Foundation
Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award[8] 2019 Women's Media Center
Urban Journalist of the Year[9] 2019 City Limits
Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media[10] 2019 Park Center for Independent Media
Most Valuable Multimedia Maker[11] 2018 The Nation Magazine's 2018 Progressive Honor Roll
Communicator of the Year[12] 2013 NY Metro Labor Press Council
Stonewall Award 2013 Stonewall Community Foundation

The Laura Flanders Show

The Laura Flanders Show is a 30-minute news and public affairs show that explores actionable models for creating a better world by reporting on the people and movements driving systemic change. Its tagline is, "Where the people who say it can't be done take a back seat to the people who are doing it."[9]

The show originally aired weekly on Free Speech TV and teleSUR. In 2018, it became a coproduction of CUNY TV.

In September 2020, The Laura Flanders Show moved to American Public Television[13].

Personal life

Flanders is a lesbian; in 2019 she married her partner of 30 years, choreographer Elizabeth Streb.

References
  1. "GRITtv Interview: Stefan Forbes". GRITtv. GRITtv. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  2. "Six Degrees of Separation – Sally Bowles to Stephanie Flanders – Cabaret Berlin".
  3. "The '90s Raw: Laura Flanders". Media Burn. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  4. Scelfo, Julie (15 December 2011). "At home with Elizabeth Streb and Laura Flanders: A High-Level Collaboration on a SoHo Loft". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  5. Feldman, Bob (26 October 2005). "Laura Flanders: Anti-War Radio Journalist". Toward Freedom. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  6. "Team". The Laura Flanders Show. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. "Lannan Foundation". Lannan Foundation. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  8. "Laura Flanders Receives the WMC Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award". Indie News Watch. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  9. "About". The Laura Flanders Show. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  10. "The Annual Izzy Award". Ithaca College. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  11. Nichols, John (20 December 2018). "The 2018 Progressive Honor Roll". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  12. "1199SEIU Communicators Win Seven Award in Labor Contest". 1199SEIU. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  13. "THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW". APTonline.org. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
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