Alternative Media: Counter Public Sphere

Today when the whole country is hailing the conviction of Baba Ram Rahim and mainstream media reporters are jostling to show its full coverage and take credit, we should remember the courage of a small evening newspaper “Poora Sach” who, unlike mainstream media, did not shy away from exposing the powerful godman Baba Ram Rahim.

This is the power of media, when big newspapers cannot muster the courage of exposing an influential person, a small newspaper can do that.

Such fringe newspapers or media make the backbone of alternative media or radical media. As name suggests, Alternative Media is a media that stands opposite to the established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production or distribution.

It is also known by various names like radical media, critical media, citizen Journalism, Public Journalism. It exits in various forms like small newspapers, magazines, community radio, independent documentaries, blogs, social sites and news websites.

Emergence of Alternative media can be seen as a response to the problems generated by the profit-driven mainstream media system in which only a few organisations or conglomerates (oligopoly) dominate and only a particular ideology rules. Due to this, media’s credibility is going downhill.

This paves way for a different kind of critical media which gives voice to those unheard issues which hardly get noticed in the Mainstream Media. Indeed, it is proven time and again that whenever mainstream media has faltered from its path of objectivity and truth; the radical news has found its manifestation in the form of Alternative media.

French revolution, Indian freedom Struggle and Arab spring are some of epochal event that resulted from the unprecedented mobilization of alternative media like oral media, pamphlets, magazines and social media.

Theoretically, it is an offshoot of “public sphere”, a concept envisaged by Habermas, a great communication thinker, wherein all competing groups and parties should indulge in public discussion and help facilitating political solutions. Unfortunately, this public sphere (mainstream media) is hijacked by the elite ideology of rich and resourceful people.

So, we had “Counter Public Sphere” in the form of alternative media for less heard voices.

Generally, alternative media is produced outside conventional media system. It includes the media of protest groups, dissidents, fringe political organisations, extremists and thinkers.For example Al Jazeera, TV news channel, stationed in Doha , Qatar, initially launched with the purpose of combating Western point view of Arab World. The channel claims to broadcast dissenting views.

In India too, we have various fora for critical views. Publications like Caravan, Samayantar; websites like The hoot, Kafila, Counter Currents, News click, India resists and The Wire give in-depth stories on the issues which are not covered in detail by the Mainstream Media. Most of them claim to be not for profit.

The upsurge in the Alternative media can be seen worldwide.Like “Voice of the People” of Zimbabwe; "radio schools“ in Ecuador; news analysis sites like La Silla Vacia,  and Las Dos Orillas in Colombia; Midia Ninja, a website by a group of citizen journalists, in Brazil.In fact, Pakistan too has presence of community radio channel with critical coverage in its FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) region.

Ms. Geetika Vashishata

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Communication Studies