Abstract
A range of alternative media outlets focusing on criticizing immigration politics and mainstream media have emerged in Sweden in recent years. Although they have quite different ideological profiles, they share a clear and critical focus on immigration and mainstream journalistic representations of reality. Their message is that mainstream media conceal or distort information about negative societal and cultural consequences of immigration and that mainstream journalists have teamed up with the political elites and engage in witch-hunts of critics, while ignoring abuses by those in power. Such media outlets (especially online participatory media) need to be analyzed in the light of their position as <em>self</em>-<em>perceived correctives</em> of traditional media. There has been a remarkable surge of alternative media in Sweden with these traits in common during the past few years, and it is important to be able to discuss these media together as a phenomenon, while at the same time taking their differences into account. In relation to this, I argue that the notion of anti-systemness is useful in discussions of the impact these alternative media may (or may not) have on public discourse. In the article, I present a matrix that distinguishes between different types of anti-systemness: ideological anti-systemness and relational anti-systemness. The article therefore mainly presents a theoretical argument, rather than empirical findings, with the aim of pointing to a way forward for research about alternative media.
Highlights
Not long ago, there were great expectations among media scholars as well as public intellectuals and debaters about how participatory aspects of journalism and news production, especially through social media and the web 2.0, could change public discourse in positive, more inclusive and, democratically beneficial ways (Deuze, Bruns, & Neuberger, 2007; Jenkins, 2008; O’Reilly, 2005)
Moving down to the left corner square of the lower row of the matrix, we find alternative media that are not ideologically anti-system but have attributes of relational anti-systemness
The typology outlined in The Alternative Media Antisystemness Matrix can be useful both for selecting relevant cases when studying alternative media and for analyzing them
Summary
There were great expectations among media scholars as well as public intellectuals and debaters about how participatory aspects of journalism and news production, especially through social media and the web 2.0, could change public discourse in positive, more inclusive and, democratically beneficial ways (Deuze, Bruns, & Neuberger, 2007; Jenkins, 2008; O’Reilly, 2005). It is necessary to view opposing media channels, especially online participatory media in the light of their position as self-perceived correctives of traditional mainstream media, presenting alternative interpretations of political and social events This motive is apparent in alternative media that is critical of immigration politics and the perceived threat of Islamization of western countries— the main focus and level of “anti-systemness” (Capoccia, 2002) varies greatly between different actors. I introduce a theoretical distinction between two different types of anti-systemness: ideological and relational This framework is designed to work on any alternative media, regardless of political/ideological orientation, but is exemplified using Swedish alternative media that are critical of the country’s immigration policy, building on insights from previous research (Holt, 2016a). The argument is in essence theoretical with the aim of informing and inspiring future research
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