Abstract
ABSTRACT In recent years, the growth of new alternative media has brought greater editorial choice and diversity to political coverage in many advanced democracies. But their coverage of mainstream media and portrayal of professional journalism has been subject to little academic attention. This study examined the role alternative political media play in advancing public debate about the value and editorial standards of a national media system. Drawing on a longitudinal content analysis of UK alternative media between 2015 and 2018 (N = 3452), we found that mainstream media was often crticised—particularly in left-wing sites—and that disapproval of professional journalism intensified over time, most strikingly during the 2017 general election campaign. We also discovered that BBC news was often singled out for its political reporting, with criticism directed at its perceived bias and lack of impartiality. Overall, we argue it is the dominant characteristics of mainstream media in national media systems that help shape the editorial agenda of alternative media and the nature of criticism directed at professional journalism. We conclude that more comparative research is needed about how alternative media represent professional journalism, and whether they are influencing people’s understanding of politics and public affairs.
Highlights
As the media have diversified over recent years, there has been a growth of new alternative online and social media platforms challenging the long-held hegemony of traditional mainstream media
This study explores the role new alternative media play in shaping public debate about the value and editorial standards of national media systems
We found that the agenda of alternative media—especially from new alternative leftwing sites—routinely attacked mainstream media, with the BBC singled out for the most hostile criticism mainly directed at its perceived bias and lack of impartiality
Summary
As the media have diversified over recent years, there has been a growth of new alternative online and social media platforms challenging the long-held hegemony of traditional mainstream media. While acknowledging the conceptual and empirical challenges of measuring engagement with, knowledge about, and attitudes towards mainstream journalism, Strömbäck et al’s (2020, 151) review of the scholarly literature about media trust emphatically concluded: “it is abundantly clear that many people do not trust traditional news media” They connected this with the rise of “so-called non-mainstream and partisan media that compete with traditional news media. We chose the UK as a case study because it ranks as one of the least trusted media environments in the Western world It has a hybrid national media system, with an influential right-wing partisan press and broadcast media ecology that is legally required to be impartial (Cushion 2015). We consider the wider implications about the impact of alternative media in media systems, in particular the public’s trust in and perception of mainstream media and professional journalism
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