UK Alternative Left Media and Their Criticism of Mainstream News: Analysing the Canary and Evolve Politics

As the media environment has fragmented over recent decades, scholars have paid increasing attention to the rise of alternative news and their relationship with mainstream media. This study enters into debates about the role and character of alternative media by examining recently launched left-wing sites in the UK, which explicitly define themselves in opposition to mainstream media. It carries out a large content analysis study of two sites – The Canary and Evolve Politics – between 2015 and 2019, examining 1284 articles and 3812 sources. Overall, the study found a strong editorial focus on criticising the government’s right-wing policy agenda, as well as opposition towards mainstream media – notably BBC news – with political reporting perceived as reinforcing an establishment-led agenda. This opposition to mainstream media has ideological consequences for the UK’s media system, with public service broadcasting the biggest casualty. The study recommends more theoretical and empirical attention should be paid to the systemic impact of alternative media on media systems given mainstream news is under attack across many countries.