Six ways alt-left media legitimatize their criticism of mainstream media: An analysis of The Canary and Evolve Politics (2015-19)

Cushion, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7164-8283 2020. Six ways alt-left media legitimatize their criticism of mainstream media: An analysis of The Canary and Evolve Politics (2015-19). Journal of Alternative and Community Media 5 (2) , pp. 153-171. 10.1386/joacm_00081_1

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	Intellect
ISSN:	2206-5857
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 April 2021
Date of Acceptance:	28 September 2020
Last Modified:	04 Dec 2024 03:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/140749

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