Abstract
Alternative media challenges the practices of established mainstream journalism and institutionalised politics. Alternative media presents a radical challenge to the institutionalised and professionalised mainstream media and provides a perspective that is dedicated to notions of social responsibility by replacing the ideology of objectivity with overt advocacy and oppositional practices. As an alternative media platform, the BIA (The Independent Communication Network), is a project that attempts to strengthen the “independent media”, which aims to carry the entire communication process beyond daily news production. Under the program “Okuldan Haber Odasına (OHO)” (From Classroom to Newsroom) arranged by the BIA, academics and professional journalists deliver lectures to journalism students. During this education process, students have the opportunity to observe various media and rights organizations. This study aims to draw attention to the necessity of a critical perspective in journalism education and to discuss how alternative journalism can transform the existing practices, values and ideologies and to illustrate the importance of alternative media in the societies surrounded by capitalist social and economic values. In addition, this article contributes to journalism studies with a discussion of the importance of critical thought in constructing democratic and pluralist perspective in the news media through an education model.
Highlights
It is claimed that journalism is undergoing a fundamental transformation
The great crisis in journalism is inherent in a system of private capitalist control over news media as well as advertising sector, which provides the majority of its revenues
That should be the standard by which we evaluate and criticize them as we seek to reduce the immense gap between their own proclaimed ideal and actual performance”
Summary
It is claimed that journalism is undergoing a fundamental transformation. One of the key reasons for this transformation is the changing nature of technology. The role of journalism is questioned in terms of its contribution to public sphere. Central characteristics of the Internet in news production such as speed and space, multiplicity and poly-centrality, interactivity and participation constitute the key points in the current news media and journalism studies (see in Fenton, 2010). The central issues that emerge in the media technology change the practices of journalism, development of global journalism, the roles of professional journalists and their identity and the relationship between journalism and democracy. The great crisis in journalism is inherent in a system of private capitalist control over news media as well as advertising sector, which provides the majority of its revenues. Journalism is integrated with the public relations industry (Franklin, 2013; Mcchesney, 2013)
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