Blog #11: EOTO reaction

    In watching these presentations, one that stood out to me in which I learned more about was alternative media. Alternative media is a source where people get their news from. Alternative media is one of two sources of new with the other being main stream media. 

    Alternative media is defined as "small-scale politically radical media, using a wide spectrum of communication technologies and formats." This form of media shares all sorts of news from many different viewpoints. Since this is a source that is separate from large mainstream news sources, they share media in a different way and style than these other sources. This allows them to share differing, less common opinions.

    Do determine is a source is an alternative source is based on the answers to these questions: Is it corporate owned? What is its content? How is it produced and distributed? Does it seek some kind of social or political change? Is it intended to generate a profit? These questions can determine the type of source. Alternative sources would not be corporate owned and would not generate a profit.

    A way alternative media promotes their sites is through using social media. In posting on social media, they know it will reach a large audience of people as well as a free way of promoting. Based on this presentation and blog post, about three quarters of users who view and use alternative media sites, use social media to find these sites. Using social media can also be difficult for users because they must now also determine if this site is a credible source or not. They must decipher if it is truly an alternative media source or if it is just a persons opinion which is not credible.

    Alternative media is a fairly newer source of news that people have been using. It has been growing as a main source that people have been using. Alternative media gives people the opportunity to get unbiased, honest news.