Alternative Media vs MSM

Alternative media is the lesser known type of media, especially in today’s society. The best way to define Alternative media is that it is the opposite of Mainstream Media (MSM). Unlike MSM, Alternative Media is smaller, not corporate owned, not money motivated, and usually not as regulated as MSM. With this comes a multitude of different pros and cons. 

Starting off with some of the Pros of Alternative media, it can be a great way to find stories on topics that mainstream media may not cover for a variety of reasons. Some reasons main media may avoid certain topics are, to avoid being too political, don’t or do want to make someone look bad, they don’t feel it is appropriate to broadcast worldwide, they have been persuaded to keep something quiet, and many more. 

A con would be that Alternative media sources can be a lot harder to find and are not as accessible to everyone as Mainstream media is. Mainstream media is found everywhere, in the local newspaper, on news channels being broadcasted in your local business, or even just in the news app on your phone. While all of this is great, unfortunately it means that Alternative media gets buried below MSM and is often not discovered by many. 

Another con is that Alternative media sources may not be as fact checked as some Mainstream sources are. Although there have been plenty of instances where mainstream media has broadcasted fake news or news that extends the truth, for the most part they have to make sure their sources and information are pretty accurate in order to share it so greatly with the entire world. However, because some Alternative media can be pretty underground, there are not many people as concerned with fact checking the sources to ensure they are getting the correct information. 

However, don’t let these cons stray you away from Alternative Media. It is a broad spectrum and there are a lot of really good reliable sources. In an article about The Advantages of Alternative Media Khalid Khan goes over all of the pros to using Alternative Media vs. MSM. The main points he makes as to why Alternative media is a great choice is because if you find a good source they can be extremely informative and not biased. They don’t have an agenda of swaying people's political beliefs but rather to post all and whatever stories they want where as MSM picks and chooses bigger more dramatic stories. He also says that MSM tends to rerun the same stories over and over where Alternative media tends to always be releasing new and up to date content you can’t find anywhere else. 

The main effect it has on different groups in society would be its availability and wide array of topics and beliefs. As far as availability, Alternative media can be a lot harder to find if you don’t know how to search for it. Therefore, people who don’t have access to the internet everyday and rely on more heavy broadcasted news may not be able to read into these sources much. If everyone were aware and open to using alternative media over MSM then it could have a really positive effect because everyone would be well rounded with all the information we should know without any bias or ulterior motive.