Introducing Just BloNo’s Alternative Media Page

Commercial media claims a lot.

Fair and balanced.
We report, you decide.
All the news fit to print.

Makes you ask yourself, could ‘media objectivity’ be an invention of big business, as claimed by Robert McChesney? Aren’t all news corporations intricately part of the profit system? Don’t most commercial news outlets skew stories and determine the political conversation to benefit the bottom line?

Since the beginnings of the 20th century, the commercial media has been bolstered by an ideology of political “neutrality” in the service of profit. But the corporations used the media to achieve their economic ends, and certainly were not neutral. For most of us, corporate ownership and control of the media results in an impoverishment of societal knowledge and informed political engagement.

There’s no conspiracy of dark smoke-filled rooms here, just run-of-the-mill business interests at play. And the very foundation of an informed and engaged citizenry in political matters is threatened.

But will the Internet change this reality, and challenge the hegemony of the corporate media?

Without strong social movements, probably not. The corporate outlets have the capital, and infotainment is running strong. Still, there are online alternatives.

The aim of the Alternative Media page is to help publicize independent left-leaning media sources, focusing on BloNo and then radiating out to include Illinois and national blogs and websites.

Do you know of an interesting local blog? An engaging independent political website? If so, please navigate to the Alternative Media page and submit it with the online form.

Together, we can take the media from the profitmakers.