Columbia Journalism Review Covers the “New Alternatives”

The article on alt. weeklies that I last blogged is part of a full-issue special report of the CJR on the New Alternatives. IMCistas have been buzzing away over the article on IMCs, entitled “Edging Away from Anarchy, Inside the Indymedia Collective, Passion vs. Pragmatism,” which for the most part manages not to misconstrue Indymedia the way the mainstream press usually tends to. There’s also a reasonable article on Low-Power FM.

In looking at an issue of CJR like this I have to remind myself that it’s a good thing to have these typically underground media brought to the attention of more mainstream journalists and communications scholars. While much of the data seems like old hat to me — someone who’s been living and breathing this stuff for about 10 years — it’s unfortunately under the radar for most folks.

Even though the occasional mainstream press article on Indymedia or LPFM comes up every so often, single articles tend to be fleeting. I think a whole issue dedicated to new alternative media carries a little more weight. No, it’s not comprehensive, but for all the minor nits one might pick with these articles, bringing them together lends a broader picture that seems more like a real and coherent movement is afoot.