Laura Flanders (born 5 December 1961) is an English broadcast journalist living in the United States who presents the weekly, long-form interview show The Laura Flanders Show. Flanders has described herself as a "lefty person".

Early life

Flanders is the daughter of the British comic songwriter and broadcaster Michael Flanders and the American-born Claudia Cockburn, first daughter of radical journalist Claud Cockburn and American author Hope Hale Davis. 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. She graduated from Barnard College in 1985 with a degree in history and women's studies.

Career

Flanders 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. 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 authored 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.

The Laura Flanders Show

thumb|A 2015 episode of The Laura Flanders Show with [[Cornel West]]

In 2008, Flanders began hosting and executive producing 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." In 2019, she married her partner of 30 years, choreographer Elizabeth Streb.

Awards

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!Award

!Year

!Organization

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|Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her work in independent media

|2019

|Lannan Foundation

|-

|Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award

|2019

|Women's Media Center

|-

|Urban Journalist of the Year

|2019

|City Limits

|-

|Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media

|2019

|Park Center for Independent Media

|-

|Most Valuable Multimedia Maker

|2018

|The Nation Magazine's 2018 Progressive Honor Roll

|-

|Communicator of the Year

|2013

|NY Metro Labor Press Council

|-

|Stonewall Award

|2013

|Stonewall Community Foundation

|}

References

  • The Laura Flanders Show