EXPLAIN WITH EXAMPLES WHY ALTERNATIVE MEDIA EXIST

Explain with examples why alternative media exist

Explain With Examples Why Alternative Media Exist

Alternate media is a kind of media which provides independent information but it may not necessarily be a reporting agency such as a firm. The alternative media is generally combination of few journalists who work as free lancers.

The word alternative media came into existence at the end of 20th century. It usually refers to the web information of few free lancers whose way of reporting is different as compared to journalist working in mass media. Internet development and evolution of alternative media is closely related. With the advent of technology, alternate media has made its way to wide number of addressees.

Through alternative media, people get alternative information about a given situation. The major difference between alternative media and other kind of media is the medium of distribution, medium of production and the subject matter of the situation. It provides an opportunity to the mass to get varied views about the given situation.( Lewis 1993, 98)

It is a general perception of Supporters of this media that main media is prejudiced about the content of the situation. It has to take in to account the political situations of the country and other such things in order to maintain harmony. This way the general public does not get the clear picture about it. The mainstream media has its own defined culture and value. That is why alternate media exist in order to provide mirror image to the situation to the general public. Although one can't say that the alternate media is never prejudiced but general perception is that it is not biased.

Many kinds of media like radical and dissident media, social movement media, ethnic/racial media, indigenous media, community media, sub cultural media, student media, and avant-garde media fall into the category of alternative media but alternative media is not limited to only these. The last decade of the century modified the definition of the alternative media.

It has been observed that alternate media has a deep and noticeable effect on the makers of the industry. According to Clemencia Rodriguez, alternative media has challenged the mainstream media. Due to increasing significance of digital technologies analyst have raised question regarding the position of digital technology between both alternate and mainstream media. Many new mediums like blogs and face book which initially were created for entertainment have started to spread news and other information. In fact it is a quicker way to spread news through these medium as these mediums have more number of users. But on the darker side it has its cons too which include its limitation of accessibility. Citizen generated journalism which is an alternate form video is also led by digital technology. It is every person right to give their opinion on any subject matter publically hence for that purpose alternative media utilize the mediums such as videos shot through video cameras and mobile phone video. Even the mainstream media sometime collect clips from these ...