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Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) sails in formation during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise on July 28, 2022. (DVIDS)
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(Swell Media/Getty Images)
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
01
August 2025
Past Event
Peru’s Strategic Moment
Featured Speakers:
Diego de la Torre
Francisco Tudela
Marc Wachtenheim
Amb. Hugo de Zela
Moderator:
Daniel Batlle
01
August 2025
Past Event
Peru’s Strategic Moment
Join Hudson Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle and a panel of leading analysts as they examine what lies ahead for Peru and whether the country can convert its economic potential into lasting security and sovereignty ahead of its 2026 elections.
Featured Speakers:
Diego de la Torre
Francisco Tudela
Marc Wachtenheim
Amb. Hugo de Zela
Moderator:
Daniel Batlle
31
July 2025
Past Event
How Congress Can Rebuild US Shipbuilding and Boost Maritime Security
Featured Speakers:
Austin Gray
Capt. Christian Lee (Ret.)
Matthew Paxton
Scott Sloan
Mike Smith
Lawrence Ryder
Moderators:
Bryan Clark
Michael Roberts
31
July 2025
Past Event
How Congress Can Rebuild US Shipbuilding and Boost Maritime Security
Join Hudson Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Michael Roberts for a discussion with government and industry leaders about the challenges the US Navy and Coast Guard face amid modernization efforts and how new legislation and regulation can help restore America’s maritime superiority.
Featured Speakers:
Austin Gray
Capt. Christian Lee (Ret.)
Matthew Paxton
Scott Sloan
Mike Smith
Lawrence Ryder
Moderators:
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Michael Roberts
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War
Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director for the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Michael Doran for a conversation with Reverend Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and founder of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
29
July 2025
Past Event
Other Approaches to the US-Canada Trade Impasse
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Ed Fast
Jamie Tronnes
Moderator:
Matthew Boyse
29
July 2025
Past Event
Other Approaches to the US-Canada Trade Impasse
Join Hudson Senior Fellow Matt Boyse for a discussion with former Canadian Minister for Trade and Economic Development Ed Fast, and CNAPS Executive Director Jamie Tronnes, as they explore a new path forward for US-Canada relations and what other allies can learn from the process.
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Ed Fast
Jamie Tronnes
Moderator:
Matthew Boyse
Related Research
Caption
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres makes a speech as he attends the three-day International Palestine Conference, led by France and Saudi Arabia and attended by Turkiye at the United Nations Trusteeship Council in New York on July 28, 2025. (Selcuk Acar via Getty Images)
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A makeshift Roma camp that was believed to have housed more than 300 people is seen abandoned by its occupants ahead of a planned evacuation operation at a waste disposal site in Achères, France, on November 29, 2024. (Kiran Ridley via Getty Images)
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People pay tribute to the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on February 16, 2025. (Kim Won Jin via Getty Images)
