Robert McChesney, co-founder of the advocacy group Free Press and a tireless defender of media and democracy, has died at the age of 72. McChesney was a prolific author, with nearly three dozen books on media, democracy and digital rights, including “Rich Media, Poor Democracy.” He was also a beloved professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Bob McChesney appeared on Democracy Now! multiple times over the years. In 2016, he addressed corporate consolidation and control over the internet.

Robert McChesney: “We have to really have a serious discussion in this country about why do we pay so much more for broadband access and cellphone service than almost any other country in the world, sometimes by double, triple the rates for crappier service. Is having these private companies, which are the equivalent of the health insurance companies, gouging us and setting super high prices and paying off the regulators and politicians a very rational way for a free society to have the central component of our communication infrastructure controlled?”

That was Robert McChesney speaking in 2016. He’s just died at the age of 72. Click here to see all our interviews with Robert McChesney.