Alternative Media and the Pursuit of Truth: Part 1

When once-trusted media sources parrot approved narratives while ignoring facts and evidence, those who value truth must look for it in other places. A brief series with links to alternative sources.

I used to be afraid to share articles from websites that were not considered mainstream, limiting myself to traditionally reputable sources like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and major corporate media outlets (ABC, NBC, etc.). My reasoning was that those I was trying to persuade would be more inclined to trust articles from these sources, and I still believe this is true to an extent. But in choosing to confine what I shared to a narrow range of “approved” or “accepted” sources, I often played into narratives that were not fully rooted in reality and that were not supported by facts and evidence. Meanwhile, I was personally aware of alternative media outlets that reported the truth and that were not captive to accepted narratives, and I greatly benefited from these non-traditional sources that were unashamed of reporting dissenting views.

Looking back, I seriously regret failing to share articles from many alternative websites that were reporting the truth. I often allowed fear of being labeled a “conspiracy theorist” and other false accusations to influence my decisions about whether to share objectively true information if it did not come from a “trusted” source. This self-censorship undoubtedly harmed the cause of truth and prohibited others from gaining access to valuable and potentially life-saving information. NO MORE. From this point forward, I choose (by God’s grace) to share information that is true regardless whether the source of this information is held in high esteem, considered a paper of record, or condoned by cultural elites. If the truth really matters to me, I should be willing to share it even if I am falsely maligned or dismissed as crazy. Better to be labeled a conspiracy theorist and report the truth than share sources that affirm the narrative but conflict with reality. It is nothing but fear of man and a desire to be thought well of by others that would prevent me from sharing truthful information from these alternative sources.

What is Alternative Media?

What do I mean by alternative media? I use that term to refer to websites and sources that present news, evidence, and opinions that are often ignored or suppressed by larger corporate media outlets (also known as mainstream media, or MSM). I wish it were still possible to simply trust The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other mainstream outlets, but many alternative media sites have frankly done a MUCH better job reporting the truth, especially over the past several years (and particularly on issues related to covid)). To be fair, larger establishment sources will sometimes report the truth (at least eventually), but most of these outlets are often beholden to corporate and special interests, which often leads to the suppression of certain information and an emphasis on certain narratives. In contrast to most larger outlets, independent journalists and smaller outlets can engage with facts and data more freely and are better able to follow the evidence wherever it leads.

I plan to provide links to a number of alternative media sources in the coming days and weeks (one site is discussed below), and I believe they will prove very helpful to those seeking to engage with all the evidence. But I should also make clear that sharing links to these sources is not a blanket endorsement of all the content published or shared by these sites; indeed, I will disagree with some of the perspectives offered by some of the authors, and I would sometimes present information differently were I the one writing the articles. But even though I may not agree with everything shared on these sites, their value for finding the truth cannot be overstated. Several of the sites I will share in the coming days are news aggregators, linking to articles and other content from around the internet that is either censored or ignored by other media outlets. Several other sites provide incredibly helpful analyses of current events and expose many of the lies that are often presented as truth. Still others dig deep into the data related to a host of issues (covid, climate change, et al.) and offer insightful and nuanced commentary that falls outside accepted narratives. I will provide links to many of these sites as well as short explanations of why I believe they are important in the coming days. For now, here is the first alternative site:

The Brownstone Institute

Founded in May 2021, the Brownstone Institute exists to advocate for limited government and personal freedom in response to the overreach of governments around the world in the name of Covid-19. The Institute publishes articles by a variety of excellent authors and has contributed much to the search for truth in its relatively brief history. From the website:

“The motive force of Brownstone Institute is the global crisis created by policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. That trauma revealed a fundamental misunderstanding alive in all countries around the world today, a willingness on the part of the public and officials to relinquish freedom and fundamental human rights in the name of managing a public health crisis, which was not in fact managed well in most countries. The consequences were devastating and will live in infamy. . . .

The mission of the Brownstone Institute – which is, in many ways, the spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration – is constructively to come to terms with what happened, understand why, discover and explain alternative paths, and prevent such events from happening again. Lockdowns have set a precedent in the modern world and without accountability, social and economic institutions will be shattered once again. Brownstone Institute is essential in preventing the recurrence of lockdowns by holding decision makers intellectually to account. In addition, the Brownstone Institute hopes to shed light on a path to recovery from the devastating collateral damage, while providing a vision for a different way to think about freedom, security, and public life. 

The world needs the Brownstone Institute now to prevent the next “snap” lockdown and make the case for an open and free society. The idea is to correct and compete with the mainstream media and take on the technocratic disease managers, or anyone else who believes rights and liberties can be violated, at the discretion of political leaders, to central plans.”

Below are links to the Homepage as well as some of the best articles I’ve read (these are ALL worthwhile reads).

Homepage   

“Totalitarianism and the Five Stages of Dehumanization”

“Othering Unvaccinated Persons”

“Mandates Are About Political Control, Not Health”

“The Mask of Your Enslavement: The Image, History, and Meaning of Escrava Anastácia”

“The Obedient Generation”