While The National Post and The Globe and Mail battle for mainstream media supremacy in Canada, the smaller, alternative presses are battling simply to stay alive. Independent media are fighting the big newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Julie Cerysler, editor of THIS magazine, shows off the latest copy of one of Canada's longest-published alternative journals. The term alternative press may conjure up radical, fringe, and revolutionary images, but Parker says this is a far cry from what actually defines an alternative press. In our case, we publish works on a diverse range of subject matter and provide a mix of cultural commentary, investigative journalism, and in-depth arts coverage.
Alternative media seeks to challenge the mass media s representation of news.
It does so by being independently run and financed, free of influence from any other organization, special interest, or lobbying group. Because our livelihood doesn t depend on ad revenue, we can take more risks, which allows us to cover an issue in a more complete way. Marcia Ruby, Production Co-ordinator for the environmental journal Alternatives agrees. She says alternative press fills a gap that the mainstream doesn t cover. By focusing on the conflict, the public s understanding of environmental concerns is limited.