Close up USA flag American flag waving in sunlight, red white stripes blue stars field.
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It’s almost the fourth of July. But this is no ordinary Independence Day.
It’s number 250.
We feel this all over the country, and we feel it in Boston, a place that had so much to do with the American Revolution. This revolution was not just about throwing off the chains of oppression. It was about innovation, trying to make things better.
We continue to do this throughout the state of Massachusetts.
In my public speaking engagements this year, I highlighted this history, talking about historical events here in Boston and connecting it to what is happening today. There is a revolution now, but it is not happening mainly in the streets. So where does it happen? It happens in digital spheres, and in boardrooms, and in research facilities, and, last but not least, in our institutions of higher education.
The AI revolution is existential. It makes us ask the hard questions, about ourselves, our societies and our values, what makes us “stick” as humans. The emergence of a competitive intelligence is an existential challenge. We have to move forward to deal with it.
For this 4th of July, I wanted to write about a keynote given by Susan Goldberg of GBH, the nation’s leading public media company based here in Boston. Goldberg’s speech, delivered just before the important anniversary of our nation’s independence, covers many of the challenges we face in the age of artificial intelligence and the work we need to do.
The next 250
Taking the stage, Goldberg invoked the enigmatic future of another 250 years, culminating in the year 2276. We can’t see that far. Given the pace of technology, we can’t even see ten years.
What Goldberg focused on was the present moment, the now, and how we got here, and what’s happening in the public media and why it matters.
He called 2025-2026 a “tumultuous year” for public media, with an estimated $1.1 billion in lost funding from a wary federal government and a public advocacy movement that he suggested is rising to the challenge.
“We’re doing incredibly well,” he said of public media. “We are starting to regain our financial footing, reinvent our revenue streams and continue to strengthen our journalism.”
That last part, Goldberg noted, is important. He spoke about the news deserts expanding across America, the fragility and importance of genuine investigative journalism and its role in supporting democracy.
“Here in Massachusetts, I feel like we’re doing our part,” he said. “We are building a sustainable business model to make sure people across the Commonwealth have reliable, fact-based reporting.”
Fighting chaos
This effort, he said, is directed against a blizzard of misinformation that is shaking our institutions to their core and impacting personal mindsets as well.
“Some people don’t believe in anything anymore,” he said, citing the damage caused by “journalism at scale” and closing newsrooms at the whim of billionaire owners and challenging basic scientific research in ways that are not bona fide.
“This is a moment to protect the First Amendment, the free press and true reporting,” Goldberg said. “These are essential to a functioning democracy. This is something we must choose to preserve or it can slip away.”
Democracy and darkness
Moving further into the environment the average American citizen now finds himself in, Goldberg cited lying government and algorithmic chaos, two forces muddying the waters of our collective discourse. He called for radical transparency, domestic reporting, and a culture where we own our mistakes instead of trying to remake reality to fit an agenda.
“Mostly, we’re trying to keep doing the work,” he said, of the movement around GBH and other public media outlets.
“Telling stories can change the world. Light in dark corners to fix problems and shine a light on what is right so it can be emulated.”
The fight, he said, will continue:
“We’re going to fight on behalf of our audience,” Goldberg said. “Old, young, digital natives, tech geeks, people from every background, zip code and tax bracket, who want to make their country a better place.”
Happy Fourth of July, and after the weekend is over, I’ll bring you more from this summit where Susan and others contributed to a picture of America in the future as we hope it will be.
