Challengers to Journalism: Alternative Media Editors’ Framing of Editorial Values and Practices

This paper examines alternative media through the lens of journalism as a strategic action field. Drawing on in-depth interviews with editors of alternative media in Norway, we explore how they frame their editorial values and practices as “challengers” to mainstream journalism. By talking to the actors in question, it is possible to attain an empirically grounded understanding of the frailties, strengths, and in-built paradoxes of contemporary alternative news media projects. In the paper, we point out that the peripheral position of alternative media results in limited privileges and access, thereby constraining their scope of action. However, it also offers the potential to redefine the established rules of the field in innovative and unconventional ways, challenging existing power dynamics. The success of alternative media hinges on their ability to garner support by effectively communicating in ways that resonate with other social actors. This paper first highlights how alternative media editors position themselves using two primary frames: victimhood and exceptionalism. These frames operate symbiotically as they articulate key editorial values such as independence, boldness, authenticity, and thoroughness. Secondly, the study identifies how these editorial values are embedded in the framing of journalistic practices, including production, distribution, and engagement.