Alternative media

Topics in Journalism .
Professional concepts
Ethics & News values Objectivity & Attribution News source News & Investigation Reporting & Writing Business & Citizen Alternative & Advocacy Science journalism Other Topics & Books
Outside influence
Infotainment & Celebrity Infotainers & Personalities Distorted news & VNRs Yellow journalism Public relations Propaganda model
News media
Newspapers & Magazines Agencies Broadcasting Online & Blogging
Roles
Journalists, Reporters, Editors, Anchors, Photojournalists, Visual journalists
Wiki Projects
Journalism Project Media Project Wikinews *Members needed*

Alternative media are defined most broadly as those media practices falling outside the mainstreams of corporate communication.

Proponents of alternative media often argue that the mainstream media is heavily biased, criticizing their pretended objectivity as a dissimulation of class biases. Causes of this bias include the political interests of the owners, government influence or the profit motive. The concentration of media ownership, as well as the concentration of the publishing industry are other causes of economical censorship. While sources of alternative media are also frequently highly (and sometimes proudly) biased, the bias tend to be different, hence 'alternative'. Alternative media outlets often engage in advocacy journalism and frequently promotes specific political views, often dissident views.

Authors such as Louis Althusser and Noam Chomsky have written in detail about the problems of the mainstream press, and their writings have inspired the creation of many alternative press efforts. Many current alternative press sources share values on copyright with the open source movement.