Navigating power and visibility: French alternative Journalism on YouTube in the hybrid media system

This study examines the strategies and challenges of French alternative news channels on YouTube, using Chadwick’s hybrid media systems and Sandoval and Fuchs’ critical theory of alternative media. Drawing on six semi-structured interviews with citizen journalists and content creators, it explores how they navigate legitimacy, visibility, platform governance, and sustainability in a platformized media environment. Findings show how these actors balance grassroots authenticity and professionalization to gain credibility while resisting constraints such as algorithmic bias, demonetization, and content moderation. Economic survival depends on combining financial independence with resilience, while audience engagement proves vital for trust and loyalty. The study also highlights how alternative media adapt to and critique YouTube’s algorithmic structures. Theoretically, it extends hybrid media theory by integrating platform-specific dynamics and refines critical theory by grounding it in YouTube’s operational realities. Practically, it offers strategies for alternative media to enhance engagement, monetize content, and respond to platform governance.