10 Things You Can Do to Help Progressive Journalism (The Nation)

[ihavenobias]

NOTE: What I've posted below is just an excerpt from The Nation. To see the full piece which includes steps 6-10, click on the title below.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100419/ten_things|Ten Things You Can Do to Help Progressive Journalism>

1. Check it. Media Matters and Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) have been dogged in holding Fox News accountable for spewing gross misinformation on a near daily basis. Get the facts about how Fox's right-wing agenda still oozes on the air, even when Beck, O'Reilly and Hannity aren't on-screen. Go to mediamatters.org and fair.org.

2. Read it. AlterNet just underwent a major overhaul, with renewed emphasis on hard-hitting content and investigative reporting. The site also features a Progressive News Wire, which sifts through more than two dozen sources. And AlterNet encourages readers to play a more active role, either by contributing to SoapBox (blogs.alternet.org), user-generated blogs that post directly to the homepage, or in its Take Action section.

3. Watch it. Former Air America host and current Nation contributor Laura Flanders brings the heat with her free daily show, GRITtv (grittv.org), as does Cenk Uygur on http://www.youtube.com/user/TYTInterviews|The Young Turks> (theyoungturks.com). And Brave New Films just released the groundbreaking documentary Rethink Afghanistan (rethinkafghanistan.com). Get a DVD and host a screening for people in your community.

4. Post it. Facebook just passed Google as the most visited US website, which means friends' recommendations can be a huge force in effecting social change. So use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to post that riveting article you just finished and spark dialogue and action on the issues.

5. Click it. Even when you can't make a financial donation to your favorite site, you can still help it thrive by posting or voting for a story on Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx, Reddit, BuzzFlash and Delicious. Not only will helping a story go viral garner attention for a progressive issue; it will also improve the odds of a news outlet successfully approaching larger donors. Go to blog-well.com/2007/03/31/what-is-digg-reddit-fark-stumbleupon- delicious-slash-dot for an explanation of how they work...

[SteppingRazor]

1. Odd that one of the things is not "Buy It." n/t

[jgraz]

2. Yep. Support sites and content producers with your $$

That's key.

[ihavenobias]

7. +1 n/t

[Wetzelbill]

3. K and R

[20score]

4. A big K&R!

[libodem]

5. Kickity

:kick: Hot diggity.

[roseBudd]

6. Number 5, click it is huge and should be a tactic for MSM sites also...

On many sites, most commented, most read, most recommends or most emailed determines what articles are teased in prominent navigation locations, which increase the number of people that see them and lends an aura of importance.

If you read the 4 paragraphs on DU, reward the hardworking newspaper reporters that wrote it and the newspaper that pays their salaries by clicking through.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Subscribe to it if you can

I'm a keen supporter of Harper's, which always has at least one major hard-hitting story each month, and a lot of intriguing little stories.

[CherylK]

9. K & R!

:kick:

[FedUpAmerican]

10. You Mean Facts Are A Good Thing???

WOW!

What a concept. To ensure accurate reporting using facts.

Furthering the divide between the parties.

[ihavenobias]

12. That's why the 'reality based community' line was so brilliant. n/t

[SocialistLez]

11. I am trying to subscribe

I recently received my first issue of Mother Jones about a week ago. I also received my membership letter from DSA on the same day which was pretty awesome.

I am not a big The Nation fan. It seems overpriced considering how small the magazine is.

I think The Progressive might be next on my list of magazines to subscribe to and then In These Times.

[JohnWxy]

13. bookmarked. Important message. would have recommended but was outside time period.

[emsimon33]

14. Excellent points

[Blue_Tires]

15. ttt

[ihavenobias]

16. Does that mean "to the top"?

[Blue_Tires]

17. yes