Subscribing to independent media

By
in Politics

tagged journalism

I broadly support economic boycotts when companies do things we don't like, and participate in plenty of them myself. And I've seen enough people cancelling their subscriptions to The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times after their billionaires owners interferred at the papers.

But in media specifically, cancelling your subscription just exacerbates the funding problem journalists face. If individual subscribers walk away, publications are even more dependent upon the good will of billionaires.

The solution to this is easy though: just invest whatever you were previously spending on WaPo, LA Times, etc. into independent media that isn't billionaire-controlled. If you really want to stick it to them, double or triple your investment. And yes, supporting independent media really is an investment, not just another subscription.

We need more outlets that are accountable to the communities they cover and serve instead of giant conglomerates and corporate boards. More local papers and less news deserts.

I try to put my money where my mouth is, so here's an alphabetic, non-exhaustive list of the various publications I financially support:

You are of course welcome to support all of the same publications as me, but I also believe we need a diverse set of independent media organizations and not just a few big ones; so I'd encourage backing other outlets that I haven't listed here too.