Danny Schechter
A fiercely independent journalist who used film, music, and sharp critique to challenge apartheid and corporate media power.
1942–2015 (age 73)·American television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic·Birthday: June 27·The Silent Generation
Biography
Danny Schechter's life was a marathon of media activism. While studying at the London School of Economics in the 1960s, he found his cause in the anti-apartheid movement, making clandestine trips to South Africa that shaped his worldview. He brought that intensity to ABC News and then to CNN as a producer, but his true calling was outside the mainstream. Schechter became a pioneering 'news dissector,' relentlessly critiquing media consolidation and failings in his writing and on his radio show. His activism took creative form when he helped Steven Van Zandt organize Artists United Against Apartheid, producing the potent protest album 'Sun City.' In later decades, he directed hard-hitting documentaries on economic injustice, like 'In Debt We Trust,' proving his dissecting lens was always trained on power, regardless of the era or the enemy.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Danny was born in 1942, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Danny Was Born
The biggest hits of 1942
#1 Movie
Bambi
Best Picture
Mrs. Miniver
Danny's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1942Born
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1947Started school
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1955Became a teenager
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1958Could drive
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1960Could vote
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Turned 21
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1972Turned 30
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1982Turned 40
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 50
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 60
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 70
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2015Died at 73
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the protest project Artists United Against Apartheid, which produced the influential 1985 album 'Sun City.'
- Authored multiple books and hosted the 'News Dissector' radio program, critiquing media integrity and corporate control.
- Produced award-winning investigative documentaries on topics from apartheid to the global financial crisis.
Did You Know?
He earned the nickname 'The News Dissector' from his Boston radio show in the 1970s.
He worked as a producer for both ABC's '20/20' and was part of the founding team at CNN.
His film 'Plunder: The Crime of Our Time' analyzed the 2008 financial crisis as a systemic fraud.
“If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.”
