A New People’s Press? Understanding Digital-Native News Sites in Latin America as Alternative Media

Abstract

This triangulated study combines surveys of readers of digital-native news sites in Latin America with focus groups of journalists working at these sites to explore how the emerging media sphere of digital-native media in the region might be redefining what it means to be “alternative.” Results show survey respondents were motivated to read the digital-native sites because of their alternative characteristics, such as media participation in the community, taking a stance against injustice, and their independence. Similarly, focus group findings indicated journalists distinguish themselves from mainstream media because of their innovative approaches to journalism, their independence, their participation in communities, and the stances they take. Ultimately, this study suggests that this trend of independent, online-native news sites does not fit neatly into alternative or mainstream categorizations. Rather, this study points to a hybrid, or mestizaje, way of doing journalism that is simultaneously alike and in contrast to mainstream and alternative media.

Keywords:

• alternative media
• digital journalism
• focus groups
• Latin America
• protest
• survey

Acknowledgment

The author heartily thanks the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin, and its director, Rosental Calmon Alves, for supporting this study.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).