ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
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 that 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 trust outlets like 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 some smaller outlets can engage with facts and data more freely and are therefore able to follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Several of the sites below are news aggregators, linking to articles and other content from around the internet that is either censored or ignored by corporate media outlets. Several other sites provide incredibly helpful analyses of current events and expose many of the lies that are presented as truth by other outlets. 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. Links to these sites as well as short explanations of why I believe they are important can be found below.
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).
“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”
City Journal
City Journal has provided some of the best commentary on a host of social issues over the past several years, and its writers are some of the most honest, noble, and courageous individuals alive today. I’ve personally appreciated City Journal’s coverage of education, race, and policing. Some of my favorite contributors include Christopher Rufo, John Tierney, and Glenn Loury. From the website:
“City Journal offers a stimulating mix of hard-headed practicality and cutting-edge theory, with articles on everything from school financing, policing strategy, and welfare policy to urban architecture, family policy, and the latest theorizing emanating from the law schools, the charitable foundations, even the schools of public health.
Since urban policy encompasses almost all domestic policy questions, as well as the largest issues of our culture and society, the magazine views its canvas as very broad indeed. The magazine holds itself to the highest intellectual, journalistic, and literary standards, aiming to produce absorbing reading for intelligent and discerning readers.”
Below is a link to the homepage and a few of the most impactful articles I’ve read since 2020:
“Keeping Fear Alive: Reluctant to set the public free, policymakers and the public-health bureaucracy set unachievable and unnecessary goals” by John Tierney
“I Must Object: A rebuttal to Brown University’s letter on racism in the United States” by Glenn Loury
“The Bias Narrative v. the Development Narrative” On different views of African-American disadvantage” by Glenn Loury
“The Courage of Our Convictions: How to fight critical race theory” by Christopher Rufo
Swiss Policy Research
One of the most helpful and comprehensive websites I’ve found for covid-related information is Swiss Policy Research. I first learned of this site in early 2020 when I was conducting research for my own lengthy article about covid. From the website:
“Swiss Policy Research (SPR), founded in 2016, is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit research group investigating geopolitical propaganda. SPR is composed of independent academics and receives no external funding other than reader donations. Our analyses have been published by numerous independent media outlets and have been translated into more than two dozen languages.”
About Page (includes a very clear summary of helpful links)
Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence
The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)
Like Swiss Policy Research, I first learned of the American Institute for Economic Research in early 2020 when I was searching for the truth about covid and covid policies. This site has fearlessly published articles by renowned scientists and independent thinkers who have bravely stood against the harms of lockdowns, masks, and other interventions and who have based their policy recommendations on the best available evidence. While the name of the Institute may seem to indicate a more narrow focus on economics, the Institute’s focus is quite broad. From the website:
“American Institute for Economic Research educates people on the value of personal freedom, free enterprise, property rights, limited government and sound money. AIER’s ongoing scientific research demonstrates the importance of these principles in advancing peace, prosperity and human progress. . . .
AIER envisions a world in which societies are organized according to the principles of pure freedom—in which the role of government is sharply confined to the provision of public goods and individuals can flourish within a truly free market and a free society.
In pursuit of this vision, AIER utilizes careful and comprehensive research to better understand the economic principles that have led to a spectacular increase in prosperity and to effectively transmit that greater understanding to policymakers, educators, and the general public through thoughtfully crafted and widely disseminated publications and targeted, practical and accessible education programs.”
“Who Deserves Your Trust in the COVID Debate?”
“Is the State Your Single Source of Truth?”
“Covid Is Not Categorically Different”
UnHerd
I first learned of UnHerd in 2020 when I came across one of their “LockdownTV” episodes on YouTube (linked below). Freddie Sayers, the interviewer in these videos, intently listened to scientists and public health officials who questioned the devastating lockdowns and other interventions imposed by governments around the world. Sayers serves as the Executive Editor of UnHerd and serves alongside a team of individuals who are committed to both truth and freedom. As the website explains, “UnHerd aims to do two things: to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking, and to provide a platform for otherwise unheard ideas, people and places.” Below is a link to the website’s homepage, its YouTube channel (truly excellent videos), and links to several of the best articles and videos I’ve found.
“The Danger of Safetyism” (article by Matthew Crawford)
“Dr Steve James: I’d sacrifice my job over vaccine mandates” (video)
“Freddie Sayers investigates Austria’s lockdown of the unvaccinated” (video)
“Priests speak out: the moral case against vaccine passports” (video)
OffGuardian
OffGuardian has been an incredibly valuable resource over the past two years. Not only does the site link to a great deal of data and evidence, but it’s commentary on many larger world issues has been so accurate it’s almost prescient. Specifically, OffGuardian has published articles on covid passports, digital currencies, and many more issues that have uncovered larger agendas behind many popular narratives. Here’s more from the website:
“OffGuardian was launched in February 2015 and takes its name from the fact its founders had all been censored on and/or banned from the Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ sections. Our editors & admins are based in the US, UK & Europe.
OffG is dedicated to open discourse and free expression, and will often host articles on both sides of any particular issue. Unless stated otherwise all opinions reflect the views of the author, not the site or its editors.”
“How Google and Wikipedia Brainwash You”
“Programmable Digital Currency”: The next stage of the new normal?”
“30 facts you NEED to know: Your Covid Cribsheet”
“The Propaganda War (Part II)”
“Covid19 Death Figures “A Substantial Over-Estimate” (from April 2020!)
“COVID 19 is a Statistical Nonsense” (May 2020)
“12 Experts Questioning the Coronavirus Panic” (March 2020)
Tablet
Some of the most powerful articles I’ve read in the past year have come from Tablet Magazine. Like all sites, I may not agree with everything published by this “daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture,” but the content I have read is incredibly thought-provoking. Moreover, the articles I’ve read (especially the articles below) are not only excellent sources of information but can truly stir both the heart and mind. Below is a link to the homepage as well as some of the best articles I’ve read.
“The Masked Ball of Cowardice”
“I Have Been Through This Before”
“How the Pandemic Is Changing the Norms of Science”
The Mises Institute
Since the world first shut down in March 2020, I’ve read a significant number of articles from the Mises Institute that have cut through a lot of the political narratives surrounding covid, explaining quite clearly how covid-19 was being used by governments and global elites to achieve their own purposes. Several of these articles (including a series on the Great Reset) are reproduced below as well as links on other topics. More about the Mises Institute:
“The Mises Institute, founded in 1982, teaches the scholarship of Austrian economics, freedom, and peace. The liberal intellectual tradition of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995) guides us. Accordingly, we seek a profound and radical shift in the intellectual climate: away from statism and toward a private property order. We encourage critical historical research, and stand against political correctness. The Institute serves students, academics, business leaders, and anyone seeking better understanding of the Austrian school of economics and libertarian political theory.”
“The Tyranny of the ‘Enlightened’ Experts”
“Age-Adjusted Mortality Is at 2004 Levels. Yet They Tell Us Covid Is Worse Than the 1918 Flu.”
What is the Great Reset? (6 parts)
(A) “What Is the Great Reset? Part I: Reduced Expectations and Bio-techno-feudalism”
(B) “The Great Reset, Part II: Corporate Socialism”
(C) “The Great Reset, Part III: Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics”
(D) “The Great Reset, Part IV: ‘Stakeholder Capitalism’ vs. ‘Neoliberalism’”
(E) “The Great Reset, Part V: Woke Ideology”
(F) “The Great Reset, Part VI: Plans of a Technocratic Elite”
The Claremont Institute
I became aware of The Claremont Institute after reading an outstanding article entitled “The Masking of America” (linked below). While I have not read many of the Institute’s publications, what I have read has been superbly written. The Institute’s work is much needed in the fight against tyranny and the battle for the truth. Consider this excellent overview from the site’s about page:
Overview
To return to limited government, conservatives must return to the principles of the American Founding. The Claremont Institute provides the missing argument in the battle to win public sentiment by teaching and promoting the philosophical reasoning that is the foundation of limited government and the statesmanship required to bring that reasoning into practice.
Who We Are
We are a think tank that teaches, writes, and litigates. Since our founding in 1979, our strategy has been to teach the principles of the American Founding to the future thinkers and statesmen of America. Those principles include the foundational doctrines of natural rights and natural law found in the Declaration of Independence; the ingenious political science of the Constitution; and the popular constitutionalism or reverence necessary for the maintenance of free government.
What We Do
Rather than concentrate on policy like many other think tanks, the Claremont Institute teaches the principles and ideas that shape policy over time to the few that will go on to positions of leadership in media, politics, law, speechwriting, and academia.
We teach. We educate the best and most promising young writers, lawyers, activists, academics, entrepreneurs, and public servants through our Publius, Lincoln, John Marshall and Speechwriters Fellowship programs, and engage this next generation of conservative leaders in a life-long study of the true principles of government and their application to today’s policies.
We write. We engage policy at the level of ideas in the Claremont Review of Books, our flagship quarterly publication, which aims to reawaken in American politics a statesmanship and citizenship worthy of its noblest political traditions.
We litigate. We promote the application of first principles in the Courts and amongst legal practitioners through our Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which files legal briefs advancing the jurisprudence of the Constitution and the Founding, and engages in strategic constitutional litigation.
______________
Below are links to the homepage as well as several truly excellent articles:
“The Masking of America: Faceless people make compliant subjects, not good citizens.”
“From Big Tech to Big Brother: The problem of monopoly in a digital age”
“The Social Justice Endgame: What do social justice warriors want?”
Law & Liberty
Over the past two years, I’ve read many insightful articles from Law & Liberty. From the website:
“Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and politics and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons.
This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to examining the first principles of a free society as they appear in law, history, political thought, and other aspects of culture.”
Below is a link to the homepage as well as several valuable articles.
“America’s Cultural Revolution?”
The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times is more like a traditional news site, but the content of the reporting is driven by facts and news instead of narratives and opinions. The site publishes a great deal of excellent written content, but its video content is also very well done. From the website:
“The Epoch Times is America’s fastest-growing independent news media. Founded in 2000, our mission is to bring you a truthful view of the world free from the influence of any government, corporation, or political party. We aim to tell you what we see, not how to think; we strive to deliver you a factual picture of reality that lets you form your own opinions. . . . [W]e believe that freedom of expression is the fire that forges a society’s best ideas, and that principle is also what drives the kind of classic American journalism we want to restore to the limelight.”
Below is a link to the homepage and few samples of The Epoch Times’ journalism:
“Federal Government Mum on Non-COVID Mortality Spike in Americans Aged 18 to 49.”
Zerohedge
Zerohedge is one of the best news aggregators in all of alternative media, linking to articles and videos from a variety of sources that are willing to critique mainstream narratives. Like many alternative media sites, Zerohedge has often been accused of “peddling conspiracy theories,” and the site was even banned from Twitter in February 2020 for suggesting (with evidence) that covid-19 may have leaked from a lab. As most everyone now knows, many mainstream outlets suggested such a link roughly a year later without facing any such bans or being labeled conspiracy theorists. This instance is one example of genuine news that Zerohedge will report on or link to potentially months in advance of corporate media. The site also links to many dissenting voices who offer evidence-based critiques of the prevailing narratives on covid and other issues. Below is a link to the homepage as well as an excerpt on the importance of anonymity to voicing dissent:
“[T]hough often maligned (typically by those frustrated by an inability to engage in ad hominem attacks), anonymous speech has a long and storied history in the United States. Used by the likes of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens) to criticize common ignorance, and perhaps most famously by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (aka Publius) to write the Federalist Papers, we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume. Particularly in light of an emerging trend against vocalizing public dissent in the United States, we believe in the critical importance of anonymity and its role in dissident speech. . . . keeping authorship anonymous moves the focus of discussion to the content of speech and away from the speaker—as it should be.” From the Zerohedge Manifesto.
LewRockwell.com
LewRockwell.com is the first alternative media site I ever visited, and I began reading the site more during my time in law school. Like ZeroHedge, this site gathers articles on a variety of topics from around the internet. A new set of articles is published everyday after midnight (except on Sundays), but the site also has two blogs (the “LRC Blog” and “Political Theatre”) that are updated more frequently and that provide more liberty-minded perspectives on daily events. From the site:
“The daily news and opinion site LewRockwell.com was founded in 1999 by anarcho-capitalists Lew Rockwell and Burt Blumert to help carry on the anti-war, anti-state, pro-market work of Murray N. Rothbard. . . . Lew strives to present a diverse daily selection of interesting articles from our writers and other sites, but he does not necessarily endorse every view expressed. He does, however, believe that each piece will repay your reading.”
As the description above makes clear, the site has a more libertarian leaning and a focus on free markets, and many articles will point out the flaws in big government policies and will advocate for less government intervention (this is what is often meant by “anti-state”). As with all the sites linked here (and like Lew says above), I will not agree with everything published on LewRockwell, but the arguments, ideas, and perspectives are worth considering. Moreover, the links provided can lead to other very helpful resources (e.g., LewRockwell is how I first learned of Zerohedge, and Zerohedge is how I first learned of Swiss Policy Research and OffGuardian, etc.). Below is a link to the homepage and direct links to the blogs.
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