Alternative media

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v•d•e

Alternative media are media (newspapers, radio, television, magazines, movies,

Internet, etc.) which provide alternative informations to the mainstream media in a given
context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or
government-owned. Alternative media differ from mainstream media along one or more
of the following dimensions: their content, aesthetic, modes of production, modes of
distribution, and audience relations. [1] Alternative media often aim to challenge existing
powers, to represent marginalized groups, and to foster horizontal linkages among
communities of interest. [2] Proponents of alternative media argue that the mainstream
media are biased in the selection and framing of news and information. While sources of
alternative media can also be biased (sometimes proudly so), proponents claim that the
bias is significantly different than that of the mainstream media because they have a
different set of values, objectives, and frameworks. Hence these media provide an
"alternative" viewpoint, different information and interpretations of the world that cannot
be found in the mainstream. As such, advocacy journalism tends to be a component of
many alternative outlets.

Because the term "alternative" has connotations of self-marginalization, some media

outlets now prefer the term "independent" over "alternative".

Several different categories of media may fall under the heading of alternative media.
These include, but are not limited to, radical and dissident media, social movement
media, ethnic/racial media, indigenous media, community media, subcultural media,
student media, and avant-garde media. Each of these categories highlights the perceived
shortcomings of dominant media to serve particular audiences, aims and interests, and
attempts to overcome these shortcomings through their own media.

The traditional, binary definition of alternative media as stated above has been expanded
in the last decade. Simply comparing alternative media to the mainstream media ignores
the profound effect that making media has on the makers. As producers and actors within
their community, modern alternative media activists redefine their self-image, their
interpretation of citizenship, and their world. Clemencia Rodriguez explains, "I could see
how producing alternative media messages implies much more than simply challenging
the mainstream media ... It implies having the opportunity to create one's own images of
self and environment; it implies being able to recodify one's own identity with the signs
and codes that one chooses, thereby disrupting the traditional acceptance of those
imposed by outside sources.” [3]

With the increasing importance attributed to digital technologies, questions have arisen
about where digital media fit in the dichotomy between alternative and mainstream
media. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other similar sites, while not necessarily created to
be information media, increasingly are being used to spread news and information,
potentially acting as alternative media as they allow ordinary citizens to bypass the
gatekeepers of traditional, mainstream media and share the information and perspectives
these citizens deem important.[4] Additionally, digital media provide an alternative space
for deviant, dissident or non-traditional views, and allow for the creation of new,
alternative communities that can provide a voice for those normally marginalized by the
mainstream media.[5]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Propaganda model
• 2 Press
• 3 See also
• 4 Noted Alternative Media Scholars

• 5 References

[edit] Propaganda model

Main article: Propaganda model

Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky proposed a concrete model for the filtering
processes (biases) of mainstream media, especially in the United States, called the
propaganda model. They tested this empirically and presented extensive quantified
evidence supporting the model.[6] Authors such as Louis Althusser have also written in
detail about the problems of the mainstream press, and their writings have inspired the
creation of many alternative press efforts.[citation needed] Socialist[7] communication scholar
Robert W. McChesney, inspired in part by the work of Chomsky and Herman, has linked
the failures of the mainstream press primarily to corporate ownership, pro-corporate
public policy, and the myth of "professional journalism." He has published extensively on
the failures of the mainstream press, and advocates scholarship in the study of the
political economy of the media, the growth of alternative media, and comprehensive
media policy reforms.[8] Ben Bagdikian has also written about the takeover of biased
media, with particular attention to the giant conglomerates that own them. He argues that
because five large conglomerates own the majority of American media, politics and
general media influence in America are in jeopardy.[9]

Whereas some alternative media theorists (e.g., Chris Atton) propose broad definitions of
media alterity, parecon theorist and Z Magazine cofounder Michael Albert incorporates
the politico-economic critique of mainstream media into his definition of alternative
media. In answering the question "What makes alternative media alternative?" he
suggests that alternative media institutions should feature an anti-corporate structure, not
just alternative media content. Along these lines, Albert has criticized publications such
as The Nation and the Village Voice for replicating corporate hierarchies and divisions of
labor. [10]

[edit] Press
The alternative press consists of printed publications that provide a different or dissident
viewpoint than that provided by major mainstream and corporate newspapers, magazines,
and other print media.
Factsheet Five publisher Mike Gunderloy described the alternative press as "sort of the
'grown-up' underground press. Whole Earth, the Boston Phoenix, and Mother Jones are
the sorts of things that fall in this classification."[11] In contrast, Gunderloy described the
underground press as "the real thing, before it gets slick, co-opted, and profitable. The
underground press comes out in small quantities, is often illegible, treads on the thin ice
of unmentionable subjects, and never carries ads for designer jeans."[11]

An example of alternative media is tactical media, which uses 'hit-and-run' tactics to

bring attention to an emerging problem. Often tactical media attempts to expose large
corporations that control sources of mainstream media.

One prominent NGO dedicated to tactical media practices and info-activism is the
Tactical Technology Collective which assists human rights advocates in using
technology. They have released several toolkits freely to the global community, including
NGO In A Box South Asia, which assists in the setting up the framework of a self-
sustaining NGO, Security-In-A-Box, a collection of software to keep data secure and safe
for NGOs operating in potentially hostile political climates, and their new short form
toolkit 10 Tactics, which "... provides original and artful ways for rights advocates to
capture attention and communicate a cause"[12].

[edit] See also

• Alternative media in South Africa
• Alternative media (U.S. political left)
• Alternative media (U.S. political right)
• Citizen media
• Community Radio
• Democracy Now!
• DigitalJournal.com
• Jesse Macbeth
• List of independent television stations in the U.S. by call sign (initial letter K)
• Mass media
• Media activism
• Media democracy
• Media Freedom Project
• Media justice
• Nexus (magazine)
• OhmyNews
• Pete Wagner
• Pirate radio
• Pirate television
• Prometheus Radio Project
• RINF
• Underground press
• Infowars
[edit] Noted Alternative Media Scholars
• John DH Downing
• Chris Atton

[edit] References
1. ^ Atton, Chris. (2002). Alternative Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
2. ^ Downing, John. (2001). Radical Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
3. ^ Rodriquez, C. (2001). Fissures in the Mediascape. Cresskill, NJ:Hampton Press. Pg. 3.
4. ^ Downing, John. (2001). Radical Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
5. ^ Gross, Larry. (2003). "The Gay Global Village in Cyberspace." In N. Couldry & J.
Curran (Eds.). Contesting Media Power. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefiled, pp. 259-
272).
6. ^ Chomsky, Understanding Power
7. ^ Robert W. McChesney bio
8. ^ McChesney, Robert W. (2008), Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the
Future of Media, New York, New York, United States: The New Press, pp. 301,
ISBN 9781595584137
9. ^ "Ben Bagdikian's Website". http://benbagdikian.net/.
10. ^ "Michael Albert, "What Makes Alternative Media Alternative?"".
http://www.zcommunications.org/what-makes-alternative-media-alternative-by-michael-
albert.
11. ^ a b Gunderloy, Mike (August 1991), "Glossary", Factsheet Five (Rensselaer, NY:
Pretzel Press) (44): p. 86, ISSN 08906823, http://www.gyrofrog.com/glossary-ff44.php,
retrieved 2007-11-05
12. ^ 10 Tactics Homepage