BLOG POST #6: HOW THESE NEWS OUTLETS ARE BECOMING THE NEW LEGACY MEDIA:

    When I initially heard of the website Antiwar, I assumed it was far left or liberal. However, during my research, I discovered that the website’s posts were not influenced by one side or another, but rather a middle ground. This fresh mindset was quite shocking and did not seem to be true at first. Rather than a team of one-sided journalists, there was a diverse range of viewpoints from each spectrum. I believe the reasons mainstream media doesn't carry groups of journalists with differing opinions are: the need for uniformity, preventing contrasting minds from clashing, and keeping the general public engaged in a closed loop within their own media empire. 

    

    Likewise, The American Conservatives website continues the trend of being truthful journalists. They align with conservative ideals, but speak freely based on the situation at hand. In other words, they are unafraid to criticize the Republican Party and Trump’s agenda: foreign policy and the economic state of America. I believe news media companies such as CNN and FOX NEWS are trying to distance themselves from the label of being non-partisan. From my perspective, being non-partisan equates to being undecided or non-committed within the political sphere. I truly believe that Antiwar and The American Conservatives will shake up Legacy media platforms if they are recognized on a larger scale.

   After analysis, the Antiwar page is neither right nor left; rather, they are Libertarian. This weighs in on their stance on governmental issues relating to the nature of the war and the resources required for foreign intervention. Although this is an important factor, we shouldn’t minimize these articles solely based on their political stance. Before diving deeper into the articles themselves, we must understand the reason why these smaller sources should be considered over mainstream media. Reading the news with a non-partisan mindset is great, but to fully get the significance, there should be prior knowledge regarding the state of America and its government. 

    Look at the previous presidential terms (excluding 2016-2020, when Donald Trump was serving his first term as the President). Barack Obama and Joe Biden used military resources in foreign combat; the differences between Trump and those presidents were significant. The prime example of this is the strength of relations between the United States and its allies. 

    While Obama used negotiations to his advantage, Trump did the opposite by turning his back on longtime allies. Obama’s tactic could rely on allies to fight in foreign wars alongside the United States military. This was coined as “leading from behind.” Although beneficial to the United States, it was seen as extremely controversial, as this required Allies of the U.S. to take the brunt of the impact, most notably in frontline combat. While this strategy was heavily biased on the political spectrum, it shows the importance of Anti-war discourse. Neither the president nor the government is safe from controversy.

    So, by learning the context and history from recent presidential terms, we 

can understand the importance of these websites. As most people can imagine, mainstream news is incredibly biased, and this has become apparent in recent times. Personally, I don’t keep up with political narratives; rather, I focus on daily news coverage. This helps me get the information that is less incentivized to be biased, such as news from small local news stations. Though some stations may be affiliates, their topics are more central to the towns that they cover.

    In retrospect, I feel the need to discover obscure websites for news consumption is critical for the integrity of news media itself. In my opinion, using mainstream news is like seeking commercialized advice, while using smaller, non-affiliated sources is similar to a library. This mindset will open up an opportunity to engage in non-incentivized discourse, allowing people to have a voice and an opinion that contrasts with the views of standardized company values.