01
December 2016
Past Event
Kleptocracy and Democracy Debate Series: The Crisis of Big Money Media

Kleptocracy and Democracy Debate Series: The Crisis of Big Money Media

Past Event
Busboys and Poets
December 01, 2016
(Swell Media/Getty Images)
Caption
(Swell Media/Getty Images)
01
December 2016
Past Event

1025 5th Street N.W., Cullen Room
Washington, DC 20001

Speakers:
Jeffrey Gedmin

Senior Fellow, Georgetown University

Martha Bayles

Former Visiting Fellow

Megan McArdle

Columnist, Bloomberg View

Is It Time to Rein in Kleptocrats Who Seek to Dominate the World's Information?

It’s an increasingly prevalent phenomenon across the globe: media companies are being taken over by business tycoons and kleptocrats less concerned with honest journalism than with their own political and financial self-interest. Their wealth itself isn’t necessarily a problem. There are genuine philanthropists now sustaining serious news publications and opinion outlets, and serious investors seeking new revenue streams to pay for high-quality news. But the overall trend is disturbing.

What to do? Are there safeguards that governments can put in place? Does that even make sense in a digital age? How might governmental responses be squared with Western faith in free economic competition? Does that still offer a path forward, or is the global erosion of media freedom best described as a market failure?

On Thursday, December 1, Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative hosted the first in a series of debates on kleptocracy and democracy. Featuring Hudson Visiting Fellow Martha Bayles of Boston College and Megan McArdle of Bloomberg View, this event was held at the 5th & K Busboys and Poets.

Related Events
03
June 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom with Rushan Abbas
Featured Speakers:
Rushan Abbas
Dean Baxendale
Damon Wilson
Moderator:
Olivia Enos
Getty Images
03
June 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom with Rushan Abbas

Join Hudson for a discussion of the book and the ways the United States and other countries can support the Uyghur people in their time of need.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Rushan Abbas
Dean Baxendale
Damon Wilson
Moderator:
Olivia Enos
23
May 2025
Past Event
Trump and the Gulf
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Bernard Haykel
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
Saudi and United States flags fly as Air Force One arrives at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025. (Getty Images)
23
May 2025
Past Event
Trump and the Gulf
Saudi and United States flags fly as Air Force One arrives at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Bernard Haykel
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
19
May 2025
Past Event
The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP on How the West Can Overcome the Totalitarian Axis
Featured Speakers:
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Daniel Kochis
Getty Images
19
May 2025
Past Event
The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP on How the West Can Overcome the Totalitarian Axis

Join Hudson for a discussion with Sir Iain on the economic, political, and security measures the US and its allies need to take to defeat the rising authoritarian axis.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Daniel Kochis
16
May 2025
Past Event
How the US and Japan Can Prevent War with China
Featured Speakers:
Masashi Murano
Iku Tsujihiro
A Japan Air Self Defense Force F-2 at Kadena Air Base in Japan on April 23, 2023. (DVIDS)
16
May 2025
Past Event
How the US and Japan Can Prevent War with China

Masashi Murano will sit down with Japan Chair Research Associate Iku Tsujihiro to discuss his new book, Preventing a US-China War.

A Japan Air Self Defense Force F-2 at Kadena Air Base in Japan on April 23, 2023. (DVIDS)
Featured Speakers:
Masashi Murano
Iku Tsujihiro