…in times of viral messages, fake news, pay walls and commercialization of journalism and media.
For a while already I am asking myself questions how and where I am getting my news, information, analysis and (different) opinions from.
Public media
For the moment I regularly frequent the website of the Flemish National Radio and Television – the VRT – for local (Belgian) and global news. I believe in the potential power of strong public media if they are politically independent and free from commercial mechanisms.
The current political climate in Flanders and Belgium – dominated by right wing, conservative and neoliberal powers -puts a lot of pressure on these institutes. To favor and to protect corporate media, the public media are more and more tied, limited and under-financed. In theory the editorial independence should be guaranteed. But I don´t believe this is the case if I hear both whistle-blowers (critical voices from inside), external observers and researchers as well if I observe how programs are made,how interviews with politicians are done, how political mainstream powers get so much airtime compared to smaller and more radical opposition voices ,….
Very specific the website of the VRT seems to be a lot influence by the current trend of publishing click-bait, less relevant news (like showbiz, celebrity culture,…) and less long reads in stead of deep digging articles.
Pano and Tegenlicht seem to be exceptions to the rule. Both are doing or re- broadcasting foreign investigative journalism in the form of documentaries respectively on Flemish and Dutch public television. Fundamentally different fundamental views and criticism and alternatives to existing problems are not avoided.
Social media
On the other hand is social media – especially facebook – quite present in the time that I spend online. I do believe that I am connected to quite some interesting people who have interesting things to share.
I try to reduce meaningless content by “un-following” people when I often feel that what they share is insignificant to what interests me and what I believe and when that users´ shared content doesn’t riches my social media experience.
I am also aware that there is gigantic corporate algorithms active that decide what content I get to see, when I get to see it and which content they prefer us not to see.
Another very disturbing issue is how social media influences the emotions of individuals and thus the whole community. On the one hand, users often compare their own shared content and how many (positive) feedback they get with the content and feedback that others get.
On the other hand, and that is even more the disturbing, platforms like Facebook developed and introduced mechanisms to gather information about my and other peoples emotions and they even try to influence it. This happens through the more advanced feedback options via the emoticons instead of the “I like” option from the early days and by using this information in the algorithm that decides what content and advertisement you get to see. Targeted advertisement works better when advertisers have knowledge and influence on your emotions. For example if you feel sad, you might be more likely to buy and consume goods if that comforts you.
Another side effect of the(over usage) of social media, is that I noticed how I am so used to only read small bits of text or just even headlines whether or not it´s click-bait. Because of the amount of short reads that are proposed to me and because of others personal reasons I not always am able to stay focused and motivated for long reads.
Alternative social media platforms like Diaspora, WT:social,… are an interesting subject but not the purpose of this blog post.
Interesting sources of information and opinions
Because I find it important to learn more in depth about issues in a complex world; I want to counter balance these developments around traditional and social media in my personal online life , and hopefully contribute something to the same process that other might go through. As an anti capitalist I also am searching for analysis outside of the capitalist and neo-liberal framework.
I want to share a few sources that I find very useful both for getting my local news about Belgium and in my own language Dutch as more global news in English (or in French although I am less confident in reading in that language).
I am also looking for more sources of critical information so I am open for suggestions that you can send me in private messages ( by email, facebook or instagram ) or post here as a comment.
English speaking alternative media
- Redfish.Media: (EN), online video and text
“We started redfish to create a platform for the people who are at the heart of their own stories, and to acknowledge that those stories are always part of a big picture which connects us all.Our content is produced in two main formats: 25 minute in-depth documentaries and faster paced “On the Ground” stories from hotspots around the world.We are 100 per cent editorially independent and uniquely positioned to have a global reach via our parent company Ruptly who make our content available to their 1200+ clients across 89 countries.”
German but with mainly a global focus - CrimethInc: (EN)
“is a rebel alliance—a decentralized network pledged to anonymous collective action—a breakout from the prisons of our age. We strive to reinvent our lives and our world according to the principles of self-determination and mutual aid.” - Real News Network: (EN) online, text and video
“The Real News Network (TRNN) produces independent, verifiable, fact-based journalism that engages ordinary people in solving the critical problems of our times. As legendary journalist Ida B. Wells said, “The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.”
Canadian/American but with global focus - DemocracyNow: (EN) online, text, video and podcasts
“The Real News Network (TRNN) produces independent, verifiable, fact-based journalism that engages ordinary people in solving the critical problems of our times. As legendary journalist Ida B. Wells said, “The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.””
American but also with a global focus
Dutch speaking alternatives to tradition media
- Apache : (NL) // online, textIn a
Investigative journalism with a focus on local, Belgian issues in politics, economics and society.
Financed both by
– subscription fees from members and member associations. For individuals between 6 and 10 euro per month depending on length and type of member (students have reduction)
– governmental subsidies
Advertisment free. - De Wereld Morgen: (NL) // online, text, photo and video
Media platform for both individual bloggers as a well for as civil society organisations like trade unions, leftist political party in the form of an selection made in some kind of editorial office. Both local Belgian and global news and opinion.
Financed both by
– Donations for individuals as member organisation from civil society
– governmental subsidies
De Wereld Morgen is a project where the non profit organisation GetBasic vzw is involved. There is links with the political party “Partij van de Arbeid” PVDA, which is the reason why some criticize and question the in-dependency of this project. - Mo* Magazine : (NL) / online and 3 monthly magazine, text, podcasts
journalistic media project that focuses on global trends and local news reality from all over the world.
Financed both by
– fees of member organisations from civil society
– governmental subsidies
– own revenues from paying members, advertisement for events from member organisations,… - KifKif (NL): online, text and podcasts
Kif Kif is an intercultural movement that struggles for equality and against racism. They offer written web articles, publish audio podcasts and eBooks, they organize small scale research and they organize events. - Charlie Magazine : (NL) , online, text
Charlie Magazine was a Belgian web-zine that offered a feminine look on the world without taboos. - Vrije bond / Buiten de orde : (NL) online and 3 monthly magazine, text
“The Vrije Bond (Free Union) is a group of people who are trying to build a different society: a society without hierarchies, without oppression and without exploitation of humans, animals and the environment; an anarchist society in which we deal with each other on a basis of equality. The members of the Vrije Bond are all working in their own way, in their own city, neighborhood, job or action group, to create such a society. They are doing this through direct action, by organizing discussions, writing articles or supplying information. The Vrije Bond serves as a platform to meet each other, to exchange experiences, to develop theory and strategies, but also to organize activities and to support them.”
The Vrije Bond publishes the quarterly magazine ‘Buiten de Orde’ (Outside the Order). It’s filled with information, interviews, and discussions about, amongst others, anarchism, self-management, workers’ struggles, human rights, anti-fascism, anti-militarism, environmental actions, resistance and independent culture. The magazine is free for members of the Vrije Bond, and for sale for everyone else.
Financed by members and completely advertisement free.
English speaking individual opinion makers
- Naomi Klein (EN)
Naomi Klein is Canadian journalist, author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalazation and of capitlasime. She has written about environmental issues in relation with that. Her theory about “Shock doctrine” she explains a new form of capitalism where right wing and neoliberal politicians use collective states of shock after natural disasters, terrorist activity and the corona to push trough measures that would never be accepted in other conditions. - Noam Chomskey (EN) , online and books, text
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American philosopher, linguist, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. - Slavoj Zizek (EN), online and books, text
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philospher and academicus. He works in subjects including continental philosophy, political theory, cultural studies, psychoanalysis, film criticism, Marxism, Hegelianism and theology. - Murray Bookchin (EN), online and books, text
Murray Bookchin was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ecology and urban planning, within anarchist, libertarian socialist, and ecological thought.
Dutch speaking individual opinion-makers
- Saskia Van Nieuwenhove: (NL), online, text
Saskia Van Nieuwenhove is active in the “special youth care” and reporting about it and about justice system, children, young people and the - Jan Blommaert: (NL), online, text
Jan Blommaert is a Belgian sociolinguist and linguistic anthropologist, Professor of Language, Culture and Globalization and Director of the Babylon Center at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He is considered to be one of the world’s most prominent sociolinguists and linguistic anthropologists, and has contributed substantially to sociolinguistic globalization theory, focusing on historical as well as contemporary patterns of the spread of languages and forms of literacy, and on lasting and new forms of inequality emerging from globalization processes. - Marc Van Ranst (NL), online, text
Marc Van Ranst is a Belgian virologist and epidemiologist who is active on social media (twitter, facebook) where he writes about professional and societal issues. - Dirk Draulans (NL), online, books and columns, text
Dirk Draulans is a Belgian biologist, journalist and writer. He writes about nature and the relationship that we as modern human society have with it. - Dirk De Wachter (NL), online and books
Dirk De Wachter is a Belgian Psychiater and teacher in higher education. In his writings he´s often very critical towards modern society and the psychological impact it has on individuals. - Stijn De Paepe (NL), online, books and columns in newspaper
Stijn De Paepe is a Belgian poet who publishes a daily poem in the Belgian newspaper De Morgen, often with a social political critism included. - Loesje (NL, EN), online, books, poems
Loesje is the name of a fictive girl who writes posters or humorist poetical texts and pastes them in the public space. The texts of Loesje often have a positive and humanistic approach and who can read some criticism on society in them. Loesje was created by diverse activists in the Netherlands in the early 1983.