Selected US Independent Media
This list does not purport to include all independent U.S. outlets worth highlighting, but it does illustrate the rich and varied landscape in the independent (non-conglomerate) media sector.
IN-DEPTH/INVESTIGATIVE
Center for Public Integrity – “original investigative journalism” for 20 years
Consortium News – independent investigative journalism since 1995”
ProPublica – foundation-funded “journalism in the public interest"
DAILY GENERAL NEWS
Salon.com – news and entertainment website with original investigative stories, breaking news, essays, blogs
PROGRESSIVE
The Media Consortium is “a network of the country’s leading progressive, independent media outlets” with several dozen members, including:
· Alternet – "online community with original journalism” plus “the best of hundreds of other independent media sources"
· The American Prospect – print/online magazine offering “liberal intelligence”
· American Independent News – "independent journalism in the public interest; state politics in context”
· Mother Jones – "investigative, political, and social justice reporting"
· The Nation– "a really critical spirit" since 1865
· The Progressive – "peace and social justice since 1909”
· Talking Points Memo – "original reporting on government and politics"
· Truthout – “independent voices, under-covered issues”
· Washington Monthly – "what really matters in Washington"
* * *
CommonDreams – “breaking news and views for the progressive community”
CounterPunch – "radical muckracking" web and print newsletter
Dissident Voice – "in the struggle for peace and social justice"
Toward Freedom – online magazine that "advances movements for human rights, peace, justice and enlightenment"
Truthdig – “drilling beneath the headlines”
The Uptake – "Will journalism be done by you or to you?"
Z Magazine / ZNet – "dedicated to resisting injustice”
CONSERVATIVE
American Spectator – "U.S. news, analysis, and opinion" with a conservative slant
The American Conservative – opinion magazine cofounded by Patrick Buchanan
National Review – “America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for Republican/conservative news, commentary”
TV/VIDEO OUTLETS & NETWORKS
Brave New Films – "moving images to . . . empower viewers to take action” TMC
Brave New Foundation – "championing social justice issues” TMC
Democracy Now! – daily TV/radio news program hosted by Amy Goodman/Juan Gonzalez on 850+ stations, “largest public media collaboration in US”
Free Speech TV – "progressive and independent TV/multimedia network" TMC
GritTV with Laura Flanders – daily talk show featuring “people [whom] commercial media ignore” TMC
Link TV – "television without borders" TV channel TMC
Real News Network – viewer-sponsored reporting on national/global issues TMC
The Young Turks – daily webcast on politics, culture, entertainment TMC
RADIO/AUDIO PROGRAMS & NETWORKS
Alternative Radio – weekly one-hour progressive show featuring speeches and in-depth interviews
CounterSpin – weekly half-hour media-watch program from FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting; full disclosure: FAIR was founded by PCIM director Jeff Cohen)
Free Speech Radio News – "daily half-hour progressive newscast owned and managed by news reporters"
Hightower Commentary – populist Jim Hightower's daily two-minute commentaries
Making Contact – weekly half-hour documentary-style public affairs program
Pacifica – "listener-supported community radio network” owning 5 stations
Thom Hartmann Program – daily “news, opinion, debate”
Underheard.org – "archive of the best of independent radio [music] shows”
World Vision Report – “weekly radio program that captures the human drama behind global issues”
INDY PRINT (newspapers, magazines, newsletters; also online)
Adbusters – "journal of the mental environment"
Harper's magazine – the nation's "oldest general interest monthly" on politics, society, environment, culture
Hightower Lowdown – monthly populist newsletter from Texan Jim Hightower
The Indypendent – “a free paper for free people”
In These Times – "newsmagazine committed to political and economic democracy” TMC
Ode magazine – “positive news about the people and ideas that are changing our world”
The Sun – “personal, political, provocative, ad-free” monthly with long interview, nonfiction, fiction, poetry, photographs and reader-submitted thematic writing
Washington Spectator – biweekly bulletin offering “behind the scenes insight”
Yes! magazine – "solution-oriented journalism covering peace, justice and sustainability” TMC
ETHNIC OUTLETS
New America Media is “a nationwide association of over 3,000 ethnic media organizations,” mostly independent TMC, including
· Afro-Netizen – "informing, inspiring and engaging afro-netizens” TMC
· Color Lines – "journalism in service to racial justice" TMC
Voices That Must Be Heard – “gateway to ethnic media”
OUTLETS FOCUSING on ECONOMICS/CORPORATIONS
Dollars & Sense – "real world economics"
"Economic Update" with Professor Richard D. Wolff – the current economic state plus "alternative ways to organize enterprises, markets, and government policies" (audio)
Left Business Observer – "accumulation and its discontents"
Multinational Monitor – monthly magazine examining multinational corporations
SourceWatch – a project of the Center for Media and Democracy that tracks "corporate front groups, PR firms, 'experts,' industry-friendly groups…”
OUTLETS FOCUSING on GENDER
America Blog Gay – "a blog about gay politics in the USA and the world"
Bilerico – "LGBTQ group blog with more than 75 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and genderqueer contributors"
Bitch magazine – feminist "commentary on our media-driven world”
Feminist Magazine – "news, views, politics, culture . . . with a feminist perspective"
51 Percent – public radio show on ‘women’s issues’ and "topics that concern us all”
Ms. Magazine – "more than a magazine — a movement" TMC
Women's eNews – “nonprofit daily Internet-based news service”
OUTLETS FOCUSING on JOURNALISM
American Journalism Review – bimonthly that "analyzes ethical dilemmas in the field and monitors the impact of technology”
Columbia Journalism Review – bimonthly that "encourages and stimulates excellence in journalism in the service of a free society”
Extra! – monthly magazine of FAIR, “offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship" (full disclosure: cofounded by PCIM director Jeff Cohen)
FactCheck.org - voter advocate that “monitors the factual accuracy of major U.S. political players”
The Media Channel – website. "As the media watch the world, we watch the media."
OUTLETS FOCUSING on SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENT, NATURE
Audubon magazine – "where nature enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers and socially conscious consumers can discover, connect with and be inspired by the natural world”
Circle of Blue WaterNews – "reporting the global water crisis"
DeSmogBlog – "clearing the PR pollution that clouds climate science"
E, the Environmental Magazine – bimonthly with news and resources for people concerned about the environment
Earth Island Journal – “hard-hitting exposés and inspiring stories of grassroots movements” TMC
Grist – “a beacon in the smog; environmental news and commentary with a wry twist” TMC
High Country News – "informs and inspires people, through in-depth journalism, to act on behalf of the West's diverse natural and human communities”
Kaiser Health News - "in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics," largely funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation
Living on Earth – weekly environmental news radio program
No Frack Almanac – quarterly print newspaper (PDFs available) on the fracking invasion (PCIM"s Maura Stephens is a columnist)
Orion magazine – inspiring “a cultural force for healing nature and community”
Sea Change Radio – "weekly show covering the shifts to social, environmental and economic sustainability"; syndicated and Podcast
Note: A TMC designation indicates the outlet is a member of The Media Consortium.
