Thoreau spent his life pursuing the ‘hard bottom’ of truth. But he confronted a sensationalist newspaper industry that, in many ways, mimicked today’s media environment.
Back in the 1930s, people like this pear peddler in New York City’s Lower East Side often got their news from labor-led media.
AP Photo
Brian Dolber, California State University San Marcos
The newspaper’s new owners harken back to a tradition of labor-led media in the early part of the 20th century, which represented a bulwark against corporate power.
If you’d like to help build an independent news source that fights against false information, if you prefer an alternative media to “alternative facts”, support us.
The small city of Hazard, Kentucky, rests in the heart of Appalachia.
AP Photo/David Stephenson
The founder of the West Virginia Dialect Project hopes to debunk some of the myths about the way Appalachian people speak and instill pride in a rich, oft-maligned culture.
Violent and distressing news video and images such as this girl fleeing fighting in Mosul, Iraq, on July 2, pose mental health risks for journalists in newsrooms — a new phenomenon.
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Journalists face psychological trauma from producing news even when they are distant from the scene of violent incidents. What can news organizations do?
The Al Jazeera Media Network headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
Naseem Zeitoon/Reuters
Philip Seib, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
When the network launched in 1996, it radically changed the media landscape of the Arab world. Two decades later, some regimes are still seething.
The Globe and Mail’s Unfounded series about how police handle sexual assault allegations is an example of how the media can lead social change.
(The Conversation Canada)
In an age of post-truth, liars and media conglomerates, there are still examples of the press using their power to make social change. We should encourage such work.
Is public relations simply a more insidious form of fake news?
Nick Lehr/The Conversation via www.shutterstock.com
Russia has seized upon loopholes in lobbying laws, hiring PR firms to influence American public opinion and policy in ways that advance Russia’s strategic interests.
Chinese authorities are cracking down on new media.
EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG
Like regulators elsewhere, Chinese authorities are unlikely to keep up with new forms of online media.
A group of youth walked 1600 kilometers to bring attention aboriginal issues in 2013 at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. They hold up the Cree flag.
By Paul McKinnon/Shutterstock.com
Research shows that the Globe and Mail has created a script in which marginalized youth can only be dealt with as failures or criminals, impacting the way they are perceived in society.
There has been a proliferation of free online information globally.
Pixabay
The special protection offered via international law is not enough to keep journalists reporting on conflict zones and assuage concerns about free speech.
Leader of Finsbury Park mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, speaks to media after the attack as Jeremy Corbyn looks on.
Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
A US study into whether a new drug can give us a tan without going into the sun generated headlines around the world. Here’s what the study really says.
The government should restore funding to public broadcasters SBS and ABC enabling them to produce more public interest journalism.
www.mediaday.com.au
News Corp on the right, Fairfax on the left. This division has a long history in Australia, to the detriment of quality journalism and public debate.
Non-profit status enables media organisations in the US to avoid federal and some state taxes and donations to them can be tax deductible.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Tax deductibility for donations to non-profit journalism centres in the United States have invigorated quality journalism. This same model could help Australian journalism.