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The New Media Movement Is Here: 20 News Sites Kicking Our Generation Into Action

The New Media Movement Is Here: 20 News Sites Kicking Our Generation Into Action
Fri, 8/22/2014 - by Eleanor Goldfield

At the height of the 2012 presidential election season, Gallup reported that “Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.”

As disappointing as the numbers are, they're not much of a surprise to Americans such as yourself, who have already sought out alternatives to mainstream news sources.

Unfortunately, however, most Americans haven't. Television, the home base of mainstream media, remains the primary news source for most Americans regardless of age group, level of education, political affiliation, race or income bracket.

Online news sources are becoming more and more popular, as one might expect. But a solid 50% of Americans ages 18 to 65 and over still get the majority of their news from TV – with just over one in five, or 21%, getting their news primarily from online sources.

Couple this with the statistical fact that “someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer just 1.04 domestic [political current event] questions correctly – a figure which is significantly worse than if they had reported watching no media at all,” and it's no wonder trust is down and cynicism is up when it comes to the news.

But it's not just cynicism that is the problem. After all, cynicism can be a catalyst for ideas, action, and, ultimately, for provoking change. However, what's utterly useless both socially and politically, and what has become a cancer of the American mind, is apathy.

While many might think their "not being into" politics has no effect on political outcomes, au contraire. Silence is a loud vote of support for the status quo. Think about it: an apathetic population isn't moved to press for better government, a better economy, better environment, better education – even something as simple as rent control in your building.

The devolution of a society's freedoms is contingent on the apathy of its populace, just as the evolution of those freedoms is contingent on the engagement of its populace. This is particularly true for young generations because they – I might say we – are the ones shaping the future either actively or passively.

What does all this have to do with media? A Pew study from 2012 also shows that “only 5 percent of people under 30 reported they follow news about 'political figures and events in Washington' very closely.” Put bluntly, while the average Fox viewer knows nothing about the actual news, the average 25-year-old appears to know even less than that.

These sobering statistics indicate what many already know: that the majority of today's youth, roundly thought of as Millennials, aren't engaged one iota in politics. That politics and pop culture are, in fact, at cross purposes with one another.

But I didn't come here to hand you a half empty glass of doomsdayism. There is, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel – and the light is alternative, online-based media.

Tuning Into our Devices

While TV remains the biased behemoth in news, its audience is aging. The same Pew study from 2012 showed that "only about a third (34%) of those younger than 30 say they watched TV news yesterday; in 2006, nearly half of young people (49%) said they watched TV news the prior day.”

While digital streams aren't fully replacing TV just yet, more and more young adults are taking in the news through social media and online searches than ever before. A full 83% of 18- to 29-year-olds own a Smartphone, and of Smartphone owners “78 percent report using their device to get news in the last week.”

In addition to this majority, the Media Insight Project reports that “Smartphone owners are two and half times as likely to get news through social media as those without Smartphones, twice as likely to use search engines and aggregators for news and to get news alerts, and more than twice as likely to share news.”

Even Smartphones aside, the report continues, the numbers are still skewed in favor of digital news streams for today's generation: “Younger adults are more likely to find news through web-based media. Younger people are three times more likely to discover news through social media than adults age 60 and older. Similarly, people under 40 are more likely than those 40 and over to discover news through internet searches and online news aggregators.”

So, what we've got is a younger generation on the apathetic side of the political fence, a TV-watching generation that still tunes into the news largely via the box in their living room – and a graph that's shifting toward the wide open expanse of the Internet for future news consumption.

Here's the upside, because with this shift comes an opportunity for alternative online news sources to turn apathy into engagement and cynicism into a demand for social and political change.

The Gallup poll showing distrust in U.S. media concluded, “On a broad level, Americans' high level of distrust in the media poses a challenge to democracy and to creating a fully engaged citizenry. Media sources must clearly do more to earn the trust of Americans, the majority of whom see the media as biased one way or the other. At the same time, there is an opportunity for others outside the 'mass media' to serve as information sources that Americans do trust.”

In short, alternatives to mass media have a clear window of opportunity right now to turn things around: by gaining the trust and attention of an age group that continues to flock online in search of everything from jeans to animal videos. Yes, entertainment is important, too, which is why news delivered in short, punchy, even humorous style could do wonders to align pop culture with politics in a new way.

Multimedia reports that combine video, audio, social media and text have already proven to engage today's younger audience to news – so expect to see more of them. Just because truthful information is the path to our personal and societal evolution, doesn't mean it has to be delivered in a way that bores us. With the world now, literally, at our fingertips, it's time to get even more creative with the ways we take in and give out media – sharing, tweeting, posting, updating, streaming, thinking, commenting, organizing.

As the past two weeks in Ferguson, Missouri, have revealed, and as the Occupy movement showed us several years before, the public's knowledge of what is taking place in this country and beyond its borders is only as empowered as our ability to be informed – presented with truthful information that forces us to ask the important questions about ourselves, our society, our politics, our country.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote so long ago: “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

With that in mind, Occupy.com has put together a starting list of 20 alternative media outlets (in alphabetical order) that we feel form a solid base for the new media movement that is now emerging. Click on and let's move.

Al Jazeera America – After earning a reputation as one of the most globally trusted media channels, the Qatar-owned company recently launched a large and growing operation focused on U.S. coverage.

Alternet – Shows glimpses of mainstream style, but still a great source for a wide array of news with straightforward and honest, factual reporting.

Democracy Now – Home to mainstay truth-telling journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, whose engaging and timely commentary along with video covers a wide spectrum of national and global stories.

DeSmogBlog – Great source for climate-related news, which follows the motto, "Clearing the PR Pollution That Clouds Climate Science."

Disinfo – Has shocking and oddball articles you won't find elsewhere.

Mother Jones – As they say it themselves, “smart, fearless journalism” and a mainstay in the alternative media sphere for decades.

Moyers and Company – Brought to us by the long-time investigative journalist and respected thought leader Bill Moyers, combining insightful interviews with strong articles on the leading political and economic subjects of the day.

Popular Resistance – Aggregating alternative news and resistance movements around the country and worldwide.

ProPublica – Journalism, particularly the investigative sort, in the public interest.

Reddit News – Updated continuously, sourced from across the Internet by its users

Russia Today – This outlet is Putin-owned, so be wary of any news concerning Russia, but when it comes to reporting U.S. politics and news, RT offers some of the best.

The Center for Public Integrity – A recent Pulitzer Prize winner, this team produces some of the hardest hitting, most thoroughly investigated reports out there, particularly in relation to tax evasion and the role of money in the electoral process.

The Daily Beast – Independent, intelligent news infused with irreverent tone.

The Hill – Hardly underground, but gives a surprisingly un-biased account of political events and news in the capital.

The Intercept – Probably the hottest development in U.S. media, the site launched earlier this year with renowned journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill following the Edward Snowden leaks, and promises a new brand of fearless, fact-telling journalism.

The Real News Network – With “no advertising, government or corporate funding,” this online video news provider based in Baltimore bridges TV and Internet with strong alternative views and professional newsroom reports.

Think Progress – One of the most impressive, wide-ranging and popular online outlets providing short, insightful news reports across the political, economic, social and environmental spectrum.

Truthdig – The current media home of author and journalist Chris Hedges, the site's motto is “drilling beneath the headlines.”

Truthout – The non-profit organization and news team delivers independent, unbiased essays and analyses on a daily basis.

Yes! Magazine – The optimistic, up-beat side of the news revealing the people and projects focusing on solutions that build stronger, more resilient communities.

 

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Comments

Americas must realize that self-scrutiny is not treason. Self-examination is not disloyalty. Truth and knowledge diffused among the people are necessary for the reclamation and preservation of our Democracy, rights, freedom and liberties.
True Americans are these that stand for our U.S Constitution our freedom, Liberty; and most important our true moral values, principles and integrity.

By Juan Reynoso- WTP-activist. – www.represent.us
https://www.freespeech.org/series - http://truthinmedia.com/
Fellow Americans, the Washington political system is corrupt and control by the oligarchs our country has become the world's bully and the oppressor of the citizens of this country. our Constitutional Republic has become a plutocracy; let's face it they have done a good job, they own the news media and used it as a propaganda machinery to brainwash the people and divide us, they used human rights, discrimination, Democracy, Capitalism, Religion, natural tragedies and whatever they think they can use to project themselves as doing everything for the good of the country, while they do the opposite. They start wars, they demised our jobs, they open the border and allowed the invasion of illegal aliens from all over the world, they trash our constitution and the rule of law, they spy on us and label us as domestic terrorist, they declared the war on drugs and they become the biggest drug traffickers, they declare the war on poverty and they pass legislation's to exploit the working people, they call themselves Christians but they kill people all over the world in our name, they tell the people that they are honest and trustworthy and promise to work for the average working America and they betray us and do everything to protect and benefit they rich that paid for their campaign. My friend all this is done because greed for money and power, the truth is that power corrupts. Our founding fathers were people of vision that is why they give us the U.S. Constitution this document protect us from tyrants that want to take over our country, they are doing a good job to accomplish this, but we can stop it, this is the time to take our country back; nothing matters but defending our U.S. Constitution; any politician, law enforcement agent or private representative of this corrupt government that promotes or violates our Constitution must be expose as a traitor and we the people must deal with these traitor, we need to become the terminators before the rats destroy our country; we demise the rats and the pest will end. Public demonstrations do not work, sending letters-e-mails or fax do not work and make thing worse, because we let them know about what the demonstration is about and they will respond with solutions that never come to be a reality. They are masters of deception, liars, traitors that we can't trust any more. Fear is the only thing that is stopping us, we must believe in our country, our Constitution and our God given rights to freedom and Liberty and that fighting for our freedom and our Liberty any price is to small to pay; because this freedom and Liberty is a gift from God almighty and no man has the right to take from us. We must cry to the four winds and be like Patrick Henry "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!"
Unaccountable oligarchy spies controls the information that guides our military and civilian leaders.
https://www.popularresistance.org/5-corporations-now-dominate-our-privatized-intelligence-industry/

At least 85% of the "media/news" sites me tioned in this article/blog are mainstream news masquerading as alternative news. Watch out.

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Like Hitler, Trump has a unique command of propaganda, a captivating public presence, and he knows how to drive home narratives beneficial to him and harmful to his enemies.

Trump’s brand of hyper-nationalism combined with the intense consolidation of executive power follows the same playbook as fascistic leaders in other countries like India,Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Argentina, among others.

The Florida governor’s humiliating loss has a dark undertone: Most Republicans, and many independents, apparently have a craving for the unchecked lawless vengeance that Trump has promised if he wins a second term.

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago

Trump’s brand of hyper-nationalism combined with the intense consolidation of executive power follows the same playbook as fascistic leaders in other countries like India,Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Argentina, among others.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago
Donald Trump, Hitler

Like Hitler, Trump has a unique command of propaganda, a captivating public presence, and he knows how to drive home narratives beneficial to him and harmful to his enemies.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Posted 1 week 2 days ago

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.