Consider the exposé on the Standard Oil Company, the Invasion of Iraq, the 2008 Chinese earthquake, the leaked NSA documents. All of these reports were covered by independent journalists who understood that it was their responsibility to seek the truth and question authority. 

In 2005, a group of leaders of nonprofit press organizations decided that they wanted to work together to raise issues of human rights and economic justice.  The network that they created is called the Media Consortium which encompasses more than 60 media outlets focused on increasing the voice of independent journalism.

The Media Consortium has been successful since it’s time of conception.  They were one of the first outlets to cover Occupy Wall Street during the early days of protest and published the 47-percent video which arguably cost Mitt Romney the presidential election.

Going forward, government agencies and political leaders should be aware of what they say on and off the record.  We live in a 24-hour news cycle society where anything is fair game as long as it helps the American public.  In addition, we cannot rely solely on mainstream outlets who have failed us in the past. Independent journalists are ready to expose the injustices within the government and serve as a watchdog for the American public.

(The independent outlets) “are now playing the classic role of fourth estate in our democracy.” – André Schiffrin, Publisher of Patheon Books/Founder of the New Press.