Blog Post #9: Alternative Media

In our world today there are multiple different ways to obtain our news. All different ages and generations are able to get their news in a way that works best for them. Whether ur news is coming from a television, radio, newspaper or social media we have access to all different types of news sources. 

News outlets are divided into two main categories; mainstream news and alternative news. Until the 20th centry main stream news was the only way for people to get their information. However, with more people speaking out and more problems coming to life main stream news is not enough for some people. 

The news we hear from mainstream news sources like Fox or CNBC are cooperation owned outlets which means the people working for them are being told what to say and being paid to say it. Many citizens do not agree with what is being said on mainstream news because it often can be bias as well as having a lot of censorship content. 

Due to the limited opinions on main stream news many have turned over to using alternative news. Alternative media can be defined as "small scale politically radical media, using a wide spectrum of communication technologies and formats." In that definition it uses the phrase "politically radical" while a lot of alternative media can contain information about politics not all of it does. Politics is a big concept in alternative media because the writers can talk about whatever point of view they want to without worrying someone will be mad. 

In main stream media journalists must follow the political views of the corporation they work for, unlike alternative media these platforms are often single owned or private owned. 

An article written comparing mainstream vs. alternative media raised a point that truly showed the difference between the two. Main stream media supports the status quo, always promoting societal norms. Alternative media activity tries to change these norms with their content. 

Alternative media can be found in many different ways. The decision of where the content is posted is up to the publisher because they are not answering to or following a corporation. Websites, e-books, e-magazines, steamed audio and video are all platforms in which we can find alternative
media. 

During my research I was interested to see how many people were using alternative media. I read that 6% of adults in the U.S say they regularly check one of the seven main alternative news websites. A lot of what I read about alternative media had connection to social media. Many of these alternative media cites use social media to publish their content because it is free and and they know many will be able to see it. 

In a survey it said that about three quarters of users who get news from alternative cites use social media for this. If users choose to use social media they have to be able to decipher weather it is credible or not as well as if it actually alternative news or just someone personal opinion. There are many questions recommended to ask to decide if news sources are alternative news. Is it cooperate owned? Is it news that has been repressed or mis reported by MSM? Is it intended to generate profit?

All of these questions are ways to determine if you are reading alternative news. While alternative news is relatively a newer concept it has quickly become many main source of news. Through alternative news you are able to get honest and non-biased opinions. I believe that opinions grow stronger and more social issues become relevant the voices of alternative news will become more popular.