The short of it: My son wants your insights about small alternative news media or community news outlets. Anything from the name of a favorite independent online publication to articles/studies about this growing phenomenon would be helpful.
The long of it: My son's going to be teaching multi-media journalism at a large urban university.
Back when he was earning his graduate degree, he was able to do some fine investigative journalism that won him recognition and awards. Unfortunately, when he went to work for the local news station (the biggest in the region) all they wanted was the kind of cut-and-paste superficial shit we all complain about.
Now he's back at the university, this time as a teacher, and he has a dilemma: Although he has ideals about journalism, he feels his first duty as a teacher is to help his students learn the skills that will get them jobs in the "real" world so they can support themselves and their families. Which means ... superficial shit.
He and I were chewing over this dilemma yesterday, when I mentioned there might be practical ways to earn a living as a journalist without having to work for corporate media. I pointed out that some of the news we'd gotten about Ferguson and #BLM, for example, originated from alternative community-focused outlets, and only later did these stories bubble up to the consciousness of mainstream organizations. I suggested that perhaps some of these alternative publications had created business models that allowed their young journalists to pay the bills while still doing substantive reporting.
Unfortunately, although he and I regularly stumble across these independent news sources, we haven't kept track of them. The only name that comes to mind is Daily Kos. But, while DK does some original reporting, that's not its main emphasis or its stated purpose.
So he'd like to tap into this community's collective knowledge. What cutting-edge news outlets are doing good original reporting, and producing enough revenue for its journalists to survive on? Are there any indepth articles or studies on such outlets that you can recommend.
After I hit the "publish" button on this diary, I'll be around for a few minutes. After that, I'll be away for about three hours. I promise to respond to any questions when I get back.
Thank you all in advance!