Independent Journalism Support
Backing Evidence (5 Key Documents)
- The Collapse of Local Journalism and the Rise of News Deserts (UNC Hussman School, 2020) Search
- Non-Profit Journalism: Funding Models and Impact (Knight Foundation, 2019) Search
- The Value of Public Service Media in Democracies (European Broadcasting Union, 2018) Search
- Subscription models and reader trust (Reuters Institute, 2020) Search
- Journalism as a public good (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2021) Search
The Straw Man Arguments
- Independent journalism is perfect and never has any bias or mistakes.
- If it's not a major corporate network, it's just bloggers in a basement who shouldn't be trusted.
The Steel Man (Strong Counter-Suit)
While independent journalism is valuable, non-profit or citizen-funded models are often highly ideological and rely on sensationalism to drive subscriber donations from a narrow base of passionate supporters, which can sometimes produce even more polarized content than corporate-backed media.