Friday, 6 December 2024

Navigating News: The Indispensable Role of Independent Journalists Against a Hostile Administration

Top Independent Journalists

and

 Alternative Media You Can Rely On


"On the campaign trail and during his previous administration, President-elect Donald Trump has frequently deployed violent language and threats against the media. His election to a second term in office marks a dangerous moment for American journalism and global press freedom." -Reporters Without Borders



Trump says he wouldn't mind somebody shooting "through the press" to get to him


"To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don't mind that so much."

"One of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we're certainly leading. I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected." 

"I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I have ever met, I have to tell you. I see the stories, and I see the way they’re couched."

"It’s fake news. It’s totally fake news. Made up. Fake. We went through the same stories. You could have asked me the same questions four years ago. I had to litigate this and talk about it. Totally fake news. No."

"The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! They can’t stand the fact that this Administration has done more than virtually any other Administration in its first 2yrs. They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!" (Posted to Twitter/X; no corrections made.)

"Why should NBC, or any of the other corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable airwaves of the USA, FREE?"

Every one of those quotes are straight from our President-elect, Donald J. Trump, spanning almost 10 years. They're certainly not an anomaly coming from the Trump camp; attacks on media outlets he believes are giving him "unfair" coverage has been in his campaign/presidential playbook from day one.

His attacks on mainstream media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, and even Fox News have only ramped up with his looming second term in the White House.

What's worse, though, is that it appears to be working. Take popular MSNBC morning show, Morning Joe, and its two primary anchors, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Less than two weeks after Election Day, they traveled to Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-lago, for a sit-down meeting, which they later stated was the first time they've seen him in seven years.

When Scarborough and Brzezinski broke this news to their audience, they attempted to frame their visit as an attempt to "restart communications," but this has been widely viewed as a betrayal of their viewers, their co-anchors at MSNBC, and their journalistic integrity. Their ratings are plummeting significantly, most notably in the days following their announcement.

I've no intention of sounding the proverbial alarm, or cause panic; having a consistently reliable source of information is never a bad thing. Therefore, I've compiled a small miscellany of trustworthy, independent journalists, as well as independent and/or alternative nonprofit news outlets that we can rely on to deliver factual, evidence-based reporting in the coming years. 

I'll try to update this piece regularly. If you have a journalist you'd like to see added to my list, please shoot me an email with their name, website, and/or social media information.

Journalists

Yashar Ali

Rachel Bitecofer

Katelyn Burns

Charlotte Clymer

Jenny Cohn

Heather Cox Richardson

Oliver Darcy

Julie DiCaro

Michael Harriot

Imara Jones

Taylor Lorenz

Parker Molloy

Elie Mystal

Jim Stewartson

Andrew Wortman


Independent, Nonprofit, and/or Alternative News Outlets

The 19th News

The 19th is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy.

  • Left bias
  • MBFC¹ credibility rating: High credibility

Associated Press (AP)

The Associated Press is a nonprofit news agency. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily papers, and radio and television broadcasters.

  • Left-center bias
  • MBFC¹ credibility rating: High credibility

The Intercept

The Intercept is a left-wing nonprofit news organization that publishes articles and podcasts.

  • Left bias
  • MBFC¹ credibility rating: High credibility
  • MBFC¹ rated The Intercept as having "mostly factual" reporting due to previous censorship of writers, but currently, The Intercept is rated as a credible news outlet

National Public Radio (NPR)

National Public Radio (NPR) is a nonprofit public broadcasting organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of more than 1,000 public radio stations in the U.S. Unlike other nonprofit news organizations, NPR stands out, in that it was established by an act of Congress, via the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Public Broadcasting Act intended to support educational, cultural, and instructional in  public radio and television.

  • Left-center bias
  • MBFC¹ credibility rating: High credibility 

ProPublica

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

  • Left-center bias 
  • MBFC¹ credibility rating: High credibility


 

¹MBFC = Media Bias/Fact Check

*Not all entities/people on this list have made public the same information; while some will include email or Facebook, for example, others do not.

**This list is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list of independent journalists and/or nonprofit news organizations.

*** Information regarding political bias, credibility, etc., and charts labeled "FACTUAL REPORTING" are created and published by Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC) Their methodology is explained on their website, and on Wikipedia.



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Navigating News: The Indispensable Role of Independent Journalists Against a Hostile Administration

Top Independent Journalists and  Alternative Media You Can Rely On "On the campaign trail and during his previous administration, Presi...