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Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...
) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Sometimes the term '' independent media'' is used as a synonym, indicating independence from large media corporations, but this term is also used to indicate media enjoying freedom of the press and independence from government control. Alternative media does not refer to a specific format and may be inclusive of print, audio, film/video, online/digital and street art, among others. Some examples include the
counter-culture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...
s of the 1960s, ethnic and
indigenous media Indigenous media is the use of communication tools, pathways, and outlets by indigenous peoples for their own political and cultural purposes. Definition Indigenous media is the use of modern media techniques by indigenous peoples, also called F ...
such as the First People's television network in Canada (later rebranded
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast licen ...
), and more recently online open publishing journalism sites such as
Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seattl ...
. In contrast to mainstream mass media, alternative media tend to be "non-commercial projects that advocate the interests of those excluded from the mainstream", for example, the poor, political and ethnic minorities, labor groups, and LGBT identities. These media disseminate marginalized viewpoints, such as those heard in the progressive news program ''
Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'', and create communities of identity, as seen for example in the
It Gets Better Project It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, m ...
that was posted on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
in response to a rise in gay teen suicides at the time of its creation. Alternative media challenge the dominant beliefs and values of a culture and have been described as "counter-hegemonic" by adherents of Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony; however, since the definition of alternative media as merely counter to the mainstream is limiting, some approaches to the study of alternative media also address the question of how and where these media are created, as well as the dynamic relationship between the media and the participants that create and use them.Rodriguez, C. (2001). Fissures in the Mediascape. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.


Definitions

There are various definitions of "alternative media". John Downing, for example, defines "radical alternative media" as media "that express an alternative vision to hegemonic policies, priorities, and perspectives". In his assessment of a variety of definitions for the term,
Chris Atton Christopher Frank Atton (born 10 March 1959) is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University. His work focuses on Alternative Media where his contribution has concentrated on the not ...
notes repeatedly the importance of alternative media production originating from small-scale, counter-hegemonic groups and individuals. Christian Fuchs also argues that alternative media must have four distinct properties. The first being that the audience of these media must be involved in the creation of what is put out in alternative media. The second is that it has to be different from the mainstream. The third is that it should create a perspective different from that of the state and major corporations. The fourth property is that alternative media must "establish different types of relationships with the market and/or the state." As defined by Atton and Hamilton "Alternative journalism proceeds from dissatisfaction not only with the mainstream coverage of certain issues and topics but also with the epistemology of news. Its critique emphasizes alternatives to, inter alia,  conventions of news sources and representation; the inverted pyramid of news texts; the hierarchical and capitalized economy of commercial journalism; the professional, elite basis of journalism as a practice; the professional norm of objectivity; and the subordinate role of the audience as a receiver" Journalistic Practices says "Alternative media not only allow but also facilitate the participation (in its more radical meaning) of its members (or the community) in both the produced content and the content-producing organization.' In this sense, participation in alternative media as described and reflected upon by the participants in this study can best be understood as a form of active citizenship".


Common approaches and practices

Approaches to the academic study of alternative media attempt to understand the ways in which these media are significant, each emphasizing a different aspect of media, including the role of the public sphere, social movements, and the participation by communities that create the media.


Democratic theory and the public sphere

One way of understanding alternative media is to consider their role in the process of democratic communication. Philosopher Jürgen Habermas proposed that a healthy democratic community requires a space where rational debate can take place between engaged citizens. It is essential that the dialogue in this
public sphere The public sphere (german: Öffentlichkeit) is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. A "Public" is "of or concerning the ...
occurs outside the control of any authority so that citizens can exchange ideas as equals.Habermas, J. (1991). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. MIT press. This translates to the need for free speech and a free press. In Habermas's idea of the public sphere, participation is open to everyone, all participants are considered equal, and any issue can be raised for debate. However, this view fails to note the inherent exclusion of women and minorities (and their interests) from the debate in the public sphere. In light of this social inequality, philosopher
Nancy Fraser Nancy Fraser (; born May 20, 1947) is an American philosopher, critical theorist, feminist, and the Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Political and Social Science and professor of philosophy at The New School in New York City.Jadžić, Milo ...
argues for the importance of multiple independent public spheres, in which members of subordinated groups can first deliberate their issues and concerns among themselves and later assert those issues into the larger public sphere. The alternative media associated with these counter-public spheres are critical in developing the needs and identity of the group and in challenging the larger dominant public sphere. A feminist counter-public sphere is, for example, responsible for circulating the view that women's issues such as domestic abuse and reproductive rights are deserving of debate in the larger public sphere.


Social movement media

Social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...
are a type of collective action. They involve large, sometimes informal, groups or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues and promote, instigate, resist or undo the social change. Social movement media is how social movements use media, and oftentimes, due to the nature of social movements, that media tends to be an alternative. Communication is vital to the success of social movements. Research shows that social movements experience significant difficulties communicating through mainstream media because the mainstream media often systematically distort, stigmatize, or ignore social movement viewpoints. They may deny social movements' access or representation at critical moments in their development, employ message frames that undermine or weaken public perceptions of a movement's legitimacy or implicitly encourage movement actors who seek coverage to cater to the questionable values of mainstream reportage on social activism, including a heightened interest in violence, emotionality, and slogans. This problematic coverage of social movements is often referred to as the protest paradigm: the idea that mass media marginalizes protest groups through their depictions of the protesters, and, by doing so, subsequently support the status quo. As a result, social movements often turn to alternative media forms and practices in order to more effectively achieve their goals. An example of how the mainstream media problematically covers social movements is the
Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
, which began with
Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...
in September 2011. The Occupy movement protested against social and economic inequality around the world, its primary goal being to make the economic and political relations in all societies less vertically hierarchical and more flatly distributed. Among the movement's primary concerns is the system which allows large corporations and the global financial system to manipulate the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a wealthy minority, undermines democracy, and disregards environmental sustainability. In comparing the mainstream news coverage of the Occupy movement against coverage from alternative press several trends emerge. First, mainstream media used confusion over the event as the dominant
frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
while alternative media focused on what the demonstrators were actually trying to accomplish. Second, the mainstream media placed the protesters at fault of any violence while the alternative media focused on the brutality of the police and their violent acts on the peaceful protesters. For more information about social movements, and alternative media, see
social movement theory Social movement theory is an interdisciplinary study within the social sciences that generally seeks to explain why social mobilization occurs, the forms under which it manifests, as well as potential social, cultural, and political consequences ...
. Alternative media tend to be activist by nature. Social movements in areas such as
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
, the
environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
, and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
produce alternative media to further their goals, spread awareness, and inspire participation and support.


Human rights

An example of a human rights social movement using alternative media is the group
WITNESS In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
. WITNESS is a human rights non-profit organization and its mission is to partner with on-the-ground organizations to support the documentation of human rights violations and their consequences, in order to further public engagement, policy change, and justice. They rely on video recordings using technology such as handheld camcorders and smartphones to capture the world's attention and viscerally communicate human rights abuses. They have documented human rights abuses from the police in the ''
favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...
s'' of Brazil, children soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, human trafficking in Brazil and the United States, and many other human rights issues, all through the use of alternative media.


Environmental movement

An example of an environment movement using alternative media is the group Greenpeace. Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization whose goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, and research to achieve its goals, as well as alternative media. They use online tactics such as podcasts and blogs as well as performance art.


Civil rights

An example of a civil rights group using alternative media was the
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...
(SNCC). SNCC was one of the most important organizations of the
American Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
in the 1960s. SNCC was involved in voter registration rights in the south, established Freedom Schools, organized the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...
(MFDP), among many other accomplishments. Alternative media tactics used by SNCC included establishing a dedicated Communication Section which included a photography arm, its own printing press (which published its newsletter the Student Voice), published publicity materials, and created an alternative wire press.


Participatory culture

Alternative media have frequently been studied as a manifestation of
participatory culture Participatory culture, an opposing concept to consumer culture, is a culture in which private individuals (the public) do not act as consumers only, but also as contributors or producers ( prosumers). The term is most often applied to the produc ...
, in which citizens do not act as consumers only, but as contributors or producers as well. By opening up access to media production, participatory culture is believed to further democracy, civic engagement, and creative expression. Participatory culture pre-dates the Internet.
Amateur Press Associations An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. History The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur pr ...
are a form of participatory culture that emerged late in the 19th century. Members of such associations typeset and print their own publications, which are mailed through a network of subscribers.
Zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...
s, community-supported radio stations, and other types of projects were predecessors of blogs, podcasts, wikis, and social networks. Web services such as
Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
,
Imgur Imgur ( , stylized as imgur) is an American online image sharing and image hosting service with a focus on social gossip that was founded by Alan Schaaf in 2009. The service has hosted viral images and meme, particularly those posted on Reddit ...
,
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
, Medium, TikTok, and
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, among others, allow users to distribute original content to wider audiences, which makes media production more participatory. Alternative media are also created by participatory journalism as citizens play an active role in collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. This form of alternative and activist news-gathering and reporting functions outside of mainstream media institutions, often as a response to the shortcomings of professional journalism. It engages in journalistic practices but is driven by goals other than profit making, has different ideals, and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy. Participatory media approaches consider participation in producing media content as well as in making decisions about media production processes as a defining feature of alternative media. Participatory culture can be realized in a number of ways.
Media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect and take action, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the w ...
is a way to begin participating by understanding media systems' conventions and means of production. Individuals learning to produce media themselves is the step that moves citizens from literacy to participation. Fan fiction,
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...
(or
low-power FM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...
), and hyper-local blogging are just a few ways that citizens can produce
media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
content to participate in the production of alternative media. By fostering participation, alternative media contribute to the strengthening of a civic attitude and allow citizens to be active in one of the main spheres relevant to daily life and to put their right to communication into practice. To demonstrate the relationship between democracy and participation in media production, the term citizen's media illustrates that alternative media can help those who are producing media also become active citizens – particularly in a democracy. This idea is tied very closely to community media (see next section).


Community media

Community media Community media are any form of media that function in service of or by a community. It is the rise of all kinds of alternative, oppositional, participatory and collaborative media practices that have developed in the journalistic context of ‘comm ...
includes citizens′ media, participatory media, activist and
radical media Radical media are communication outlets that disperse action-oriented political agendas utilizing existing communication infrastructures and its supportive users. These types of media are differentiated from conventional mass communications thro ...
as well as the broader forms of communication in which local or regional specific platforms are engaged. Like other forms of alternative media, community media seeks to bypass the commercialization of media. The elimination or avoidance of sole ownership or sponsorship is motivated by a desire to be free of oversight or obligation to cater to a specific agenda. Community media is often categorized as grassroots, a description that applies to both the financial structure and the process of content creation. While there is diversity in community media, which varies by media platform (radio, TV, web or print), it is typical that the media source is open to the public/community to submit material and content. This open policy aligns with the values of community media to maintain a democratic approach and ethos. Historically community media has served to provide an alternative political voice. Across the world forms of community, media are used to elevate the needs and discourse of a specific space, typically connected by geographical, cultural, social, or economic similarities.


Race and indigenous media

Minority community media can be both localized and national, serving to disseminate information to a targeted demographic. They provide a platform for discussion and exchange within the minority communities as well as between the minority and the majority communities. Oftentimes minority-focused media serves an essential resource, providing their audiences with essential information, in their own language of origin, helping the specified group to participate as equal citizens of their country of residence. These media platforms and outlets create an opportunity for cultural exchange and the elevation or empowerment of a disenfranchised or marginalized group, based on racial, ethnic or cultural identity. Historically, these forms of media have served a dual purpose, to disseminate information to a community that is traditionally ignored or overlooked by major media outlets and as a vehicle for political protest or social reform. Spaces created to address minority discourse typically straddle the line of both alternative and activist media, working to provide a resource unavailable through mainstream measures and to shift the universally accepted perspective or understanding of a specific group of people. Sociologist Yu Shi's exploration of alternative media provides opposing arguments about the role of minority media to both facilitate cultural place-making and hinder community assimilation and acculturation. Shi expounds a widely shared understanding that racially informed media provide a place, power, and political agency. Throughout the 20th-century, media spaces were developed to accommodate the growing multi-cultural state of the United States. African-Americans created local publications like the Chicago Defender to share critical information to protect citizens from discriminatory practices by police and policy-makers, while Jet and Ebony's magazine served to empower the national black identity, lauding the achievements and thought leadership of Black Americans. Similar practices became increasingly common for Latino/Latina and Asian groups. As immigration increased post-1965, Spanish-language newspapers and television stations, along with the creation of television networks like ICN-TV specifically for Chinese immigrants. A critical awareness of an increasingly participatory global media culture in multicultural societies is becoming widespread and a necessary approach to explaining the success and impact of ethnic or minority media, as well as to embrace the changing ways in which people 'use' their media.


Connections to subaltern studies

There are related aims found in alternative media studies and
subaltern studies The Subaltern Studies Group (SSG) or Subaltern Studies Collective is a group of South Asian scholars interested in the postcolonial and post-imperial societies. The term ''Subaltern Studies'' is sometimes also applied more broadly to others who sh ...
, as a concern for disenfranchised and oppressed voices pervades both fields. Subaltern studies draw on Antonio Gramsci's discussion of "subaltern" groups, that is, groups of people considered to be of inferior rank socially, economically, and politically. One of the most significant questions in subaltern studies is posed by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, "Can the subaltern speak?" which she asks in her seminal essay of the same name. Spivak investigates whether the subaltern has a voice within hegemonic political discourses, and if so if their voices are being heard, allowing them to participate. This is important, as the subaltern's ability to participate in politics and other social and cultural practices is key in establishing—as well as challenging—their subaltern status.Spivak, G. (2010). "Can the Subaltern Speak?" In ''Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea.'' Ed. by Rosalind Russel. This particular body of scholarship is useful to the study and discussion of alternative media due to their shared preoccupation with the ability of disenfranchised peoples to participate and contribute to mainstream hegemonic discourses, especially in regards to ethnic and racial media in which these groups speak from a subaltern position. This connection is strengthened in the work of alternative media scholar Clemencia Rodriguez. In her discussion of citizenship, Rodriguez comments that "Citizens have to enact their citizenship on a day-to-day basis, through their participation in everyday political practices...As citizens actively participate in actions that reshape their own identities, the identities of others, and their social environments, they produce power." So it could be said that by subaltern groups creating alternative media, they are indeed expressing their citizenship, producing their power, and letting their voice be heard.


Forms of media


Press – print

The alternative press consists of printed
publications To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conv ...
that provide a different or dissident viewpoint than that provided by major mainstream and corporate
newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
,
magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
, and other print media. ''
Factsheet Five ''Factsheet Five'' was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, its comprehensive reviews (thousands in each issue ...
'' publisher Mike Gunderloy described the alternative press as "sort of the 'grown-up'
underground press The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...
. '' Whole Earth'', the ''
Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...
'', and ''
Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' are the sorts of things that fall in this classification." 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." 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".


Radio

Radio has been a significant form of alternative media due to its low cost, ease of use, and near ubiquity. Alternative radio has arisen in response to capitalist and/or state-sponsored mainstream radio broadcasts. For example, in early 1970s Australia, a new alternative radio sector was created by those who felt excluded from the two-sector national broadcasting system, consisting of a national public service broadcaster and commercial services. In the US, the first listener-supported independent station, KPFA, began in 1949 in order to provide an avenue for free speech unconstrained by the commercial interests that characterized mainstream radio. Their content ranges broadly; while some stations' primary aims are explicitly political and radical, others namely seek to broadcast music that they believe to be excluded from mainstream radio. Alternative radio often, though not always, takes the form of
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...
, which is generally understood as participatory, open, non-profit, and made by and for a community.Coyer, K. (2007). Access to broadcasting: Radio. In K. Coyer, T. Dormant & A. Fountain (Eds.) ''The Alternative Media Handbook''. (112-123). London, UK: Routledge. These radio stations may broadcast legally or illegally, as
pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
. Alternative radio is a global phenomenon. Examples of community and alternative radio endeavors include
Tilos Rádió Tilos Rádió is a community, non-profit, listener supported radio station in Budapest, Hungary. History Tilos Rádió was the first community radio station in Hungary, established as a pirate broadcaster in 1991. The station's programmers have ...
(Hungary),
Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation, or MBC Radio, is a radio network in Canada, serving First Nations and Métis communities in the province of Saskatchewan. The network's flagship station is CJLR in La Ronge. The MBC network broadcasts to more ...
(Canada), Pacifica Radio and the
Prometheus Radio Project The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States.Hill, Ricky. "Prometheus Radio Project (United States)." ''En ...
(both in the United States), and
Radio Sagarmatha Radio Sagarmatha is an FM radio station in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Established in May 1997, Radio Sagarmatha is the first independent community radio broadcasting station in South Asia.Rodriguez, C. (2001). A process of identity deconstruction: Colombian women producing video stories. In ''Fissures in the Mediascape''. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Participatory video projects in which marginalized or under-resourced groups tell their stories through video demonstrate the possibility for access and participation in video-making to empower those involved, circulate representations unseen in mainstream media, and challenge existing power relations. Alternative film in the United States is evident in the work of The Film & Photo League chapters of the 1930s, which drew attention to union and class issues through social documentary film and the editing of newsreels. Though initiated in the 1960s and 1970s, radical video making reached an apex in the 1980s, as technology became more accessible.
Public access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
provided a broadcast outlet for oftentimes punk and hip-hop-influenced radical cultural critique. Deep Dish TV, for instance, is a television network which seeks to provide media access to grassroots organizations and to marginalized or misrepresented perspectives through public access television. Today, portable, accessible recording technology and the internet allow increasing opportunities for global participation in the production, consumption, and exchange of alternative video content.


Internet

With the increasing importance attributed to digital technologies, questions have arisen about where digital media fit in the dichotomy between alternative and mainstream media. First, blogs,
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
,
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
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. Second, the Internet provides an alternative space for mobilization through the cultivation of interpersonal networks, collective action towards social change, and making information much readily accessible. Typically, among those with deviant, dissident or non-traditional views, Internet platforms allow for the creation of new, alternative communities that can provide a voice for those normally marginalized by the mainstream media. In addition, the Internet has also led to an alternative form of programming, which allows both professionals and amateurs to subvert or evade commercial and political restraints on open
access to information Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO s ...
and information technologies. Some examples of alternative computing are hacking, open source software or systems, and file sharing. Lastly, the Internet also breeds a new way of creation and dissemination of knowledge—commons knowledge—that is different from the top-down manner. It seeks out and encourages the participation of multiple users, fostering forms of collaborative knowledge production and folksonomies. Wikipedia is an excellent example of this genre.


Street art

Often considered guerilla-art, street art operates free from the confines of the formal art world.Schwartzman, Allan, ''Street Art'', The Dial Press, Doubleday & Co., New York, NY 1985 In the form of
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
, stencil, mural, and print, street art appropriates or alters public spaces as a means of protest and social commentary. Important aspects of street art as an alternative form are its blend of aesthetics and social engagement, use of urban spaces, and interaction with the social landscape of the area in which the art is made. The street art movement gained popularity in the 1980s as a form of art distinct from high art and commercial venues, but as popularity grew, some street artists moved from the alternative venues of the streets to gallery and museum showings. Cities such as Paris, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo rose to prominence in using street art as legitimate alternative media through artist collectives and competitions, bringing attention to alternative voices. The internet has also influenced street art greatly by functioning as a platform for artists and fans to share pictures of street art from around the world. Websites like Streetsy.com and WoosterCollective.com are among the most popular of street art sharing sites.


Performance

Performance as an alternative medium uses theater, song, and
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
as a means of engaging audiences and furthering social agendas. Performance art is an avant garde art form that typically uses live performances to challenge traditional forms of visual art. It operates as "the antithesis of theatre, challenging orthodox art forms and cultural norms." Playing an important role in social and cultural movements from
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
and Surrealism to Post-Minimalism, performance art reflects the political environment of the time. While performance art is often relegated to high art, street theater is typically used in a grassroots fashion, utilizing local communities for performance or conversation. It can be used as a form of guerilla theater to protest, like in the case of
The Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/p ...
which is dedicated to transforming the hierarchy of power in society through experimental theater.


Music

Certain genres of music and musical performance can be categorized as alternative media. Independent music, or
indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...
, is music that is produced separate from commercial record labels. Professor David Hesmondhalgh describes indie music's alternative nature as a "hard-headed network of post-punk companies which made significant challenges to the commercial organization of cultural production favoured by the major record companies." Its subversive roots of sound or lyrics and alternative models of distribution distinguish it from the commercial record companies.


Genres

Some alternative media can be associated with the
political left in the United States The American Left consists of individuals and groups that have sought egalitarian changes in the economic, political and cultural institutions of the United States. Various subgroups with a national scope are active. Liberals and progressives ...
, the political right in the United States, and various political positions in the United Kingdom. Primarily concerned with the growing role of new media in alternative media projects, communication scholar Leah Lievrouw identifies five genres of contemporary new media based alternative and activist media: culture jamming, alternative computing, participatory journalism, mediated mobilization, and commons knowledge.Lievrouw, L. (2011). Introduction. In Alternative and Activist New Media (pp. 1–27). Polity. (p.19) *
Culture jamming Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It att ...
generally attempts to critique popular cultures such as entertainment, advertising, and art. It tends to comment on issues of
corporate capitalism In social science and economics, corporate capitalism is a capitalist marketplace characterized by the dominance of hierarchical and bureaucratic corporations. Overview A large proportion of the economy of the United States and its labour mark ...
and consumerism and seeks to provide political commentary. Characteristics of culture jamming texts include the appropriation or repurposing of images, video, sound, or text and that they are ironic or satirical in some sense. Today, culture jamming can come in the form of internet memes and
guerrilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 ...
. *Alternative computing deals with the material infrastructure of informational and communications technologies. It seeks to critique and reconfigure systems with the intention of subverting or evading commercial and political restraints on open access to information and information technologies. Some examples of alternative computing are hacking,
open source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open ...
or systems, and
file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...
. *Participatory journalism refers to web-based sources of critical or radical news either in the form of online news services or blogs. These alternative outlets of news often adopt the philosophies of
citizen journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...
and view themselves as providing an alternative to mainstream news and opinion.Lievrouw, L. (2011). Introduction. In Alternative and Activist New Media (pp. 1–27). Polity. (p.25) Participatory journalism projects may cover underreported groups and issues. Within this genre authors and readers of some of these alternative media projects have the ability contribute alike and therefore has the characteristic of being participatory or interactive. An example of participatory journalism is
Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seattl ...
and wearecgange.org *Mobilization media relate to communication practices that mobilization or organization social movements, identity, or cultural projects through the use of new media tools and platforms such as
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
or
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. Characteristics of this genre include the cultivation of interpersonal networks, collective action towards social change, and making information much readily accessible. *Commons knowledge as a genre refers to projects that provide alternatives to the traditional top-down creation and dissemination of knowledge. It seeks out and encourages the participation of multiple users, fostering forms of collaborative knowledge production and folksonomies.
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
is an excellent example of this genre. Thinking of current forms of alternative media in terms of the genre not only allows one to identify the features and conventions of certain modes of communication, but also how "they allow people to express themselves appropriately, and to achieve their various purposes or intentions." In other words, one can begin to understand how the creators and participants of alternative new media projects actively shape their communication practices. YouTube is considered to be not only a commercial enterprise but also a platform designed to encourage cultural participation by ordinary citizens. Although YouTube aimed to be foremost a commercial enterprise, nevertheless, it has become a community media as one of the forms of alternative media. Scholars assume that YouTube's commercial drive may have increased the probability of participation in online video culture for a broader spectrum of participants than before. This idea allows one to shift our concern away from the false contradiction between market-driven and non-market-driven culture towards the tensions between corporate logics and unruly and emergent traits of participatory culture, and the limits of YouTube model for cross-cultural diversity and global communication. In theory, YouTube stands as a site of cosmopolitan cultural citizenship. Uploading foreign soap opera episodes and dividing into several pieces to pass YouTube's content limits, can be seen as acts of cultural citizenship similar to the media sharing practices of diverse communities identified by Cunningham and Nguyen (2000). However, people who have the highest chance of encountering other cultural citizens are those who have the access to various contents, information and platforms; this is commonly referred to as the 'participation gap'. The notion of participation gap makes both digital literacy and digital divide such important issues for cultural politics. Therefore, it is still controversial whether YouTube is just another conduit for strengthening
cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...
or one of the alternative media.


Aesthetics

In association with experimental and innovative modes of production and collaboration,
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
in alternative media can be a political tool used to subvert dominant power. Like many makers of alternative media, scholar
Crispin Sartwell Crispin Gallagher Sartwell (born 1958) is an American academic, philosopher, and journalist who is a faculty member of the philosophy department at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He has taught philosophy, communication, and political ...
identifies politics as an aesthetic environment. As such, these art political systems not only use aesthetics as a tool to gain power but are also produced via aesthetic forms within all media. Thus, it is not uncommon for alternative media to seek new artistic, non-traditional, or avant-garde means to represent its content. In this case, the use of aesthetics allows alternative media to address otherwise banal content in a manner which re-aligns, re-negotiates, or exposes the politics at work within it.


Form

Scholars have linked the
Avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
art movements as one arena where alternative aesthetics are used as a political tool. Movements such as Futurism,
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
, and
Situationism The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
looked to challenge the formal rules regarding what art was, how it looked or sounded like, or where it could be in order to radically alter public and political ideology. The logic, reason, and rules of style and beauty, mandated by the dominant class, was rejected as an affirmation of subjugation.


Appropriation

While some alternative makers look to radically break away from the suffocating restraints of the dominant class by rejecting their dominant visual dogma, others appropriate, twist, and remix in order to subvert dominant language and messaging through mimicry, mockery, and satire. The détournement (and its successor culture-jamming) of the Situationists, the mimicry of Pop Art, and the reworking of normative narratives in
slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...
are examples of appropriation of mainstream media texts.


Participation

Avant-garde movements that have emphasized audience participation include Futurism,
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
ism, Surrealism,
Situationism The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
, Pop art, Neo-concretism, and the
Theatre of the Oppressed The Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) describes theatrical forms that the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal first elaborated in the 1970s, initially in Brazil and later in Europe. Boal was influenced by the work of the educator and theoris ...
. By inviting the audience to participate in the creation of media, collaborators look to subvert or critique hierarchical structures (
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
, the
ivory tower An ivory tower is a metaphorical place—or an atmosphere—where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits, usually mental and esoteric ones. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an e ...
) within society by embracing democratic modes of production. Strategies that involve the input or collaboration of all stakeholders often result in less formally 'correct' aesthetics.


Notable media scholars

*
Chris Atton Christopher Frank Atton (born 10 March 1959) is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University. His work focuses on Alternative Media where his contribution has concentrated on the not ...
*
Rodney Benson Rodney Benson is an American sociologist and professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. He is also an affiliated faculty member in the NYU Department of Sociology and has been a visiting scholar or invited lecturer at uni ...
* Jean Burgess * John D. H. Downing *
Lauren Kessler Lauren Kessler is an American author, and immersion journalism, immersion journalist who specializes in narrative nonfiction. She teaches storytelling for social change at the University of Washington and for the Forum of Journalism and Media in ...
* Clemencia Rodriguez * Åsa Wettergren


See also

*
Alternative facts "Alternative facts" was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, during a ''Meet the Press'' interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the a ...
* Alternative media in South Africa *
Alternative media (U.S. political left) Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA ...
* Alternative media (U.S. political right) *
Alternative media in the United Kingdom A list of alternative news media outlets in the United Kingdom. Left-wing Alternative media from a left-wing perspective. * Another Angry Voice * Byline TV * Double Down News * Evolve Politics * LabourList * Left Foot Forward * Novara Med ...
* Alt-right *
Grey literature Grey literature (or gray literature) is materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Common grey literature publication types include reports ( annual, r ...
*
Fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
*
Junk food news Junk food news is a sardonic term for news stories that deliver "sensationalized, personalized, and homogenized inconsequential trivia", especially when such stories appear at the expense of serious investigative journalism. It implies a critici ...
*
Pirate television A pirate television station is a broadcast television station that operates without a broadcast license. Like its counterpart pirate radio, the term pirate TV lacks a specific universal interpretation. It implies a form of broadcasting that is u ...
*
Samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alternative Media . Types of journalism Self-publishing