Alternative Epistemologies as Distinguishing Features of Right-Wing and Left-Wing Media in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID22010665
AuthorsMark Coddington (0000-0001-6664-6152, Washington and Lee University, corresponding author), Logan Molyneux (0000-0001-7382-3065, Temple College)
Year2025
Volume13
Issue8
Pages1442-1460
Publication date2025-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2024.2340603
OpenAlexW4394840999
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited43

This study builds on efforts to understand what alternative media are becoming by examining differences in epistemology among them and as compared with mainstream media. We find that alternative media present fewer sources on average and rely more often on unattributed assertions. The source count is particularly low in right-wing alternative media. Furthermore, alternative media outlets are more distant from the sources they do provide than mainstream media are. Thus, alternative media present both less evidence and less proximate evidence in their news texts, offering audiences a shaky epistemological foundation

Alternative media · Mainstream · Mass media · Media bias · Media coverage · Media relations · Media studies · Media use · News media · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Right wing · Sociology · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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