Alternative Journalism (Journalism Studies: Key Texts)

Alternative Journalism is the first book to investigate and analyse the diverse forms and genres of journalism that have arisen as challenges to mainstream news coverage. From the radical content of emancipatory media to the dizzying range of citizen journalist blogs and fanzine subcultures, this book charts the historical and cultural practices of this diverse and globalized phenomenon. This exploration goes to the heart of journalism itself, prompting a critical inquiry into the epistemology of news, the professional norms of objectivity, the elite basis of journalism and the hierarchical commerce of news production.

In investigating the challenges to media power presented by alternative journalism, this book addresses not just the issues of politics and empowerment but also that of the journalism of popular culture and the everyday. The result is essential reading for students of journalism - both mainstream and alternative.

Chris Atton is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Arts and Creative Industries of Edinburgh Napier University.  His research is primarily interested in popular culture that is produced by "ordinary," non-professional writers and editors of fanzines, radical newspapers, independent publishers and social media.  He is particularly interested in how audiences and fan communities make sense of popular culture through their own writing.  He has made special studies of music fanzines, radical political newspapers and the use of the internet for the distribution of "amateur ideas."  His books include Alternative Media (Sage, 2002) and Alternative Journalism (Sage, 2008, with James F. Hamilton).