The MSM is a joke. Here are some alternative news websites for your "online information diet."
- WORK IN PROGRESS -
Propaganda which provides "fact-based" spin and offers the State perspective:
- RT (Russian)
- Press TV (Iranian)
- Jerusalem Post (Israeli)
- PBS (US) or WashingtonPost/ CNN (CIA)
- BBC (UK)
- Al Jazeerah (Qatar)
Western News analysis and Criticism:
Globalresearch.ca (Michael Chossudevsky is an economics professor at University of Ottawa who offers an antithetical view from what you'd expect from the son of Russian Jewish UN diplomat. I'd say this is the best source for direct analysis and criticism of Western Globalism.)
"Western" (US, UK/ EU) Perspective:
- Foreign Policy Magazine (CFR Journal - sister org to Chattam House. Offers a range of informed perspectives on US foreign policy while simultaneously being the mouthpiece for what is probably the most powerful force in US foreign policy)
- The Economist (Labor Party/ Fabian Society Journal)
- Mainstream (Pro-Globalist) Centrist Left and Centrist Right (American):
- WSJ (Right)
- NYT (Left)
Local/ National (US):
- Washington Times (Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church)
- Chicago Tribune
- LA Times
Business:
- Forbes
- International Business Times
- Washington Business Journal
Left Wing Quality Journalism:
- The Nation
- Democracy Now
- Seymour Hersh (Investigative Journalist often published in The NYPost or LRB)
- TruthDig (political analysis by Chris Hedges, Max Blumenthal (yes, Sid's son), Daniel Ellsberg, Scott Ritter, Greg Palast, Amy Goodman, etc...)
- Democracy Now
- Corbett Report
- Frontline
- The Intercept (Greenwald/ Taibbi/ Scahill, etc- Owned by Ebay's Pierre Omydar as part of the non-profit "First Look Media". Cozy with wikileaks, through greenwald and poitress. often accused of being deep cover US intelligence agents. Also includes Andy Carvin who played a large role in the social media which potentially drove the arab spring)
- The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (A non-profit which acts as an agency often working with MSM on critical investigations.)
Anti-Censorship:
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Reporters Sans Frontières
Balanced Israel Criticism:
- MondoWeiss
- The Electronic Intifada
Fairly Balanced Israeli Perspective:
- Haaretz (I find it gives a more balanced Israeli perspective than much of the right wing zionist MSM, and the Jerusalem Post)
- Algemeiner (US based German/ Israeli news. Some really informative and good stuff in here).
"Radical Politics"
(The things that the SPLC and ADL like to classify as far right and far left "hate groups"). Take a lot of these with a grain of salt, but they still add perspective and analysis:
- World Socialist Website
- The New American (John Birch Society right wing publication)
- Executive Intelligence Review/ LaRouchePub (Lyndon Larouche)
- Lew Rockwell/ Von Mises Institute (I don't know why this is on the SPLC list- it's just right wing libertarianism. But they like to associate nationalism with "white power")
- Alex Jones/ Infowars
- WorldNetDaily (WND) and Veterans Today (These two sometimes promote neo-nazi themes and some extreme conspiracy theories from what I believe I've seen, but I've seen interesting analysis here that isn't available elsewhere. like many of these, i wouldn't recommend as a source as much as as a perspective)
Blogs with contributors:
- Alternet
- Heavy
- Reason
I'd also suggest following forecasters and trend analysts. On the "conspiracy" side, many are selling precious metals and woo products, but they often offer interesting insights. Additionally, I'd seriously recommend reading papers published by think tanks. Think tanks should be a whole other post- but you can gain considerable perspective from the ideologies espoused by academics and "shadow government" thinkers through these orgs.
Some other sources I'm currently verifying:
- I'd have recommended No Agenda, and Max Keiser's financial analysis is definitely worth watching.
- Naked Capitalism
- Cruyptome
- Ron Paul Institute
- Last American Vagabond
- Sic Semper Tyrannis
- Mint Press News
- Schneier.com
- PNAR
- NewsBud
- The Real News
I also want to say that deconstruction is very important when reading news and analysis. know your source and the ideology/ spin, so you can read critically. are they reporting on something, or trying to prove something to you? are things worded in a way that can afford multiple interpretations? why is this topic of interest to the outlet? who are their sources, are they accountable for their information and why are their sources disclosing it? Context is also key and can help you determine whether you are reading a public relations piece or actual news.
I have created a two news Blog sites that Pull from many Sources listed, which updates itself automatically every 5 minutes.
The Scope: Corruption, Collusion, Geopolitics, Criminality, Economics & CONSPIRACY
It kind of acts like an internet scryer, an internet Ouiji board if you will. You can get the feel for multiple outlets' view on the same story in real time as they are released; in terms of coverage, proliferation AND perspective.
All links take you to the original source in a new tab(I may start hosting content if people want to contribute).
Please feel free to have a look at (I would appreciate any feedback):
http://riggedit.com/
http://rigged.it/
and
http://cosmicdisturbance.us/
http://www.newsblok.com/
Good point on deconstruction, I've personally been reading up on Derrida and media criticism.
I would add Democracy Now, Secular Talk, and H.A. Goodman to the liberal list. The latter two I'm pretty sure aren't controlled, they're citizen journalists. But Goodman does have a very positive view of wikileaks.
For radical socialist perspective I would suggest many of the annual Socialist conference lectures at wearemany.org
And for the left anarchist perspective I would suggest CrimeThinc and their podcast the Ex Worker.
Some of the best journalism I've seen is in the radical publication Jacobin, which I believe threads the line between anarchism and socialism (probably more tilted to the latter though).