Six ways alt-left media legitimatize their criticism of mainstream media

An analysis of The Canary and Evolve Politics (2015–19)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7512995
AutoresStephen Cushion (0000-0001-7164-8283, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen5
Número2
Páginas153-171
Fecha de publicación2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Alternative & Community Media (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2206-5857 • E-ISSN: 2634-4726
EditorialIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/joacm_00081_1
OpenAlexW3135391885
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas7

In recent years, new alternative left-wing media sites in the United Kingdom – labelled alt-left media – have become popular sources of news. They often focus their attention on the ‘MSM’, an acronym used to pejoratively represent ‘mainstream media’. But there has been limited academic attention about how these new alternative media report mainstream media and critique professional journalism. Drawing on a highly focused dataset of 158 stories from a sample of 1284 articles, this study examined two alt-left media sites in the United Kingdom, The Canary and Evolve Politics, from 2015 to 2019, and identified six specific ways they legitimized their criticism of mainstream media. This involved the constant surveillance of mainstream media reporting, questioning editorial judgements with close textual analysis and drawing on authoritative sources to substantiate claims. It is argued that more research is needed to understand how alternative media are delegitimizing the value of professional journalism

Criticism · Journalism · Mainstream · Media studies · News media · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics · Law