Independent media

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Independent media (Media)
File:Independent vs Corporate Media.png In comparison with corporate media.
Media that is not part of the corporate media system, mostly independently and tenuously funded.

Independent media (sometimes called Alternative media) is media that is not part of the corporate media system, mostly independently - and very tenuously - funded. But buyer beware - also "independent" media can be controlled, co-opted, wrong, or narrowly follow pet ideas.

Official narrative

Full article: Fake news

Commercially-controlled media regularly charges independent media with producing "fake news", a phrase which arose from The Deep State's "fake news website" project to try to boost flagging trust in corporate media.

Own words

{{#subobject: |Has superobject=Independent media |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Jonathan Cook|+sep=, |Has text=“We are subject to no editorial oversight or control, apart from our own self-imposed sense of what is right and fair, or in some cases what we think our readers are ready to hear. We have no bosses or advertisers to please or appease. Our owners are the readers. And with an owner that diverse and diffuse, we have been freed of the tyranny of billionaires and corporations.
This new model of journalism is revolutionary. It is genuinely pluralistic media. It allows a much wider spectrum of thought to reach the mainstream than ever before. And perhaps even more importantly, it allows independent journalists to examine, critique and expose the corporate media in real time, showing how little pluralism they allow and how often they resort to blatant falsehood and propaganda techniques.” |Is about=Independent media,|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=2021 |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL=https://consortiumnews.com/2021/05/12/corporate-medias-war-to-snuff-out-independent-journalism/

}}

“We are subject to no editorial oversight or control, apart from our own self-imposed sense of what is right and fair, or in some cases what we think our readers are ready to hear. We have no bosses or advertisers to please or appease. Our owners are the readers. And with an owner that diverse and diffuse, we have been freed of the tyranny of billionaires and corporations.
This new model of journalism is revolutionary. It is genuinely pluralistic media. It allows a much wider spectrum of thought to reach the mainstream than ever before. And perhaps even more importantly, it allows independent journalists to examine, critique and expose the corporate media in real time, showing how little pluralism they allow and how often they resort to blatant falsehood and propaganda techniques.”
Jonathan Cook (2021) 

Problems with the term independent media

The tenuous funding often means insufficient resources to follow up a story, do deep research or have editorial polish. Independent media can be infiltrated, where the credibility of the perceived independence is used to further official narratives. Kit Knightly wrote:

The fact is, legacy media is dying. Which is a good thing. But do you think the establishment doesn't see this? Do you think it hadn't occurred to them to get out in front of it by seizing control of the new media platforms and planting "leaders" in supposedly independent media movements? Like a hermit crab swapping out shells – they will simply slide themselves from their old home to a nice shiny new "indy" one..getting totally accidentally promoted by the algorithm.

"Mainstream alternative media"

David Icke coined the term "Mainstream alternative media" (MAM). Icke analyzed that that the billionaire Elon Musk is creating a cross-promotional network of journalists designed to direct and control "alternative media", and to lure especially "conservatives" into a dead end:

You are being had, people, but most will never get that. They only see what is in front of their eyes, not what is weaved through what they think they see. The decision was made a long time ago and the Tucker Carlson interview with Alex Jones was just the calculated prelude to it. The interview was the setup for what was long planned. Musk could have simply done this long ago, but the ritual had to be played out to both eulogize Musk, the new MAM God, and to put Alex Jones center stage as a symbol of the Mainstream Alternative Media alongside Musk, Carlson, Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, Eva Vlaardingerbroek, and all the rest. REAL alternative media that has no 'here and no further' is thus marginalized by comparison, as planned, but we are still here and still pursuing the depths of truth where the MAMMIES refuse to go.

In February 2024, podcaster Joe Rogan signed a multiyear deal with Spotify worth as much as $250 million.

Left-wing mainstream alternative media

Rusere Shoniwa observed a trend starting after Covid in 2021.

Diving down hitherto prohibited rabbit holes, and generally sounding very awake as they stick it to The Man. The JFK assassination? Tick. 9-11? Tick. CIA/Mafia drug-running? Tick. And about time, right? Finally, the Left is catching up with Bastards Inc.’s game plan.

Not so fast, though. Something’s not quite right with the New Left Conspiracy Realists. It's not what they’re saying; it’s what they’re studiously not saying.

..However, I have been waiting for [ Aaron Good ] to utter just one little sentence about the greatest medical fraud in history that was used to shut down the planet and wage war on humanity – the Covid psyop. Crickets. With all that political criminology on his CV, he ought to know what the Covid years really meant. Then again, if your gallery is packed to the rafters with the mask-wearing cult, then the truth will have to be patient and just wait a little longer.

He also has nothing to say about the threat of the interlocking digital surveillance state and programmable digital currencies. Nothing to say about climate alarmism and the UN's corporate Sustainable Development agenda.

It appears to me, then, that the Left and Right of the MAM are now becoming strange bedfellows. Both are converging on anti-imperialist, anti-war, anti-Zionist themes. Good thing I say. But crucially, both are converging on a pro-Multipolar World Order (MWO) stance, and both are very shy to tackle the techno-fascist endgame to which that very same MWO is leading us. The Left and Right MAM are converging on the most important and non-negotiable issues that the Owners and Controllers need to coral us into the digital gulag. The MAM is the new Mainstream Media, and it only took five years for that to happen.

"Three camps of awareness"

David Hughes outlined a "three camps of awareness" framework. {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Independent media |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=David Hughes|+sep=, |Has text=“Camp 1 is for the "normies" who uncritically accept official narratives and generally believe whatever the legacy media tells them.

Camp 2 is for those who have doubts about Camp 1. What they do not realise is that Camp 2 is just another holding pen. From the very beginning, it was designed to hoover up sceptics and contain dissent. Social media is, in that respect, a social containment mechanism.

Camp 2 is led by well-known figures who dominate the "alternative media" scene. Their view counts tend to be artificially boosted by algorithms. Even when they are temporarily "cancelled," they emerge in a better position than they were before. Their role it is to win the trust of those in Camp 2, only to keep a lid on potential resistance in various ways. Although they tell the truth on certain issues, their purpose is ultimately malign, i.e., to distract and mislead dissenters, so that the ugliest truths (which underpin the power structure) do not enter into public consciousness. To the uninitiated, Camp 2 seems like a bold and courageous place full of freedom fighters. In reality, it is a hall of mirrors.

Camp 3 is for those who are genuine about finding the truth and who pursue it in an authentic way. It does not claim to have "The Answers," but it at least strives for an honest approximation of the truth. Those in Camp 3 are banned, shadow-banned, and otherwise censored. The algorithms work against them. Those in Camp 3 are systematically targeted – by censorship, smear campaigns, harassment, lawfare, death threats, and even murder in extreme cases.

The distinction between the three camps is not intended to be hard and fast. Individuals can move backwards and forwards between camps, depending on circumstance.

For example, they may set foot in Camp 3, only to find that it is too uncomfortable and then retreat back to Camps 1 and 2.” |Is about=Independent media,|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate= |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL=https://davidahughes.net/a-guide-to-identifying-camp-2

}}

“Camp 1 is for the "normies" who uncritically accept official narratives and generally believe whatever the legacy media tells them.

Camp 2 is for those who have doubts about Camp 1. What they do not realise is that Camp 2 is just another holding pen. From the very beginning, it was designed to hoover up sceptics and contain dissent. Social media is, in that respect, a social containment mechanism.

Camp 2 is led by well-known figures who dominate the "alternative media" scene. Their view counts tend to be artificially boosted by algorithms. Even when they are temporarily "cancelled," they emerge in a better position than they were before. Their role it is to win the trust of those in Camp 2, only to keep a lid on potential resistance in various ways. Although they tell the truth on certain issues, their purpose is ultimately malign, i.e., to distract and mislead dissenters, so that the ugliest truths (which underpin the power structure) do not enter into public consciousness. To the uninitiated, Camp 2 seems like a bold and courageous place full of freedom fighters. In reality, it is a hall of mirrors.

Camp 3 is for those who are genuine about finding the truth and who pursue it in an authentic way. It does not claim to have "The Answers," but it at least strives for an honest approximation of the truth. Those in Camp 3 are banned, shadow-banned, and otherwise censored. The algorithms work against them. Those in Camp 3 are systematically targeted – by censorship, smear campaigns, harassment, lawfare, death threats, and even murder in extreme cases.

The distinction between the three camps is not intended to be hard and fast. Individuals can move backwards and forwards between camps, depending on circumstance.

For example, they may set foot in Camp 3, only to find that it is too uncomfortable and then retreat back to Camps 1 and 2.”
David Hughes

Output

Occasionally some government owned or corporate media produce output similar to independent media. Corporate media will from time to time allow dissident voices when the topic is far away in time or no longer seen as dangerous; and some of the output concerning adversaries can cover deep politics.

Some state owned media channels employ Western dissidents, or let them speak. The most known ones are Russia Today. Sputnik, Press TV, Al Jazeera and TeleSUR, but also others, thereby creating a similar output to Western independent media, but will follow official editorial lines in most other areas, for example Covid or criticism of the host country.

References