March 4, 2002

12:22 AM

'Alternative' media can be corrupted too.Narco News publisher Al Giordano is pulling out of Alternet, which he said has a near monopoly in the market of "alternative" news syndication. He outlines a number of problems with Alternet's operation and its director: in addition to taking half the fee paid for content, he says Alternet also stole content and blacklisted writers. He also touches on the sometimes rivalry with "alternative" news groups, including FAIR, Project Censored, and IndyMedia, and expresses hopes for looming competition. In the fight to legitimize "alternative" media, are the evils of the mainstream unavoidable? [More inside]
posted by pzarquon (2 comments total)

Last December, Narco News — dedicated to "reporting on the drug war in Latin America" — famously won a New York Supreme Court case that held that online journalists have the same First Amendment protections as offline journalists.
posted by pzarquon at 12:23 AM on March 4, 2002

This is so disappointing. The world of alternative news reporting is so small and weak, the least they could do is work together ethically. I don't begrudge Narco News for settling its scores in public - nor do I particularly begrudge Alternet's "abuse" of journalists - I just wish that the members of the alt news world could work for their mutual benefit, rather than against each other.
posted by busbyism at 5:47 AM on March 4, 2002