New Report Exposes the Impact of Alternative Media Across the Western Worldnds Voices in Europe and the US
With Americans heading to the polls today, the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is reaching its climax. Media coverage—especially on social platforms—continues to fuel intense debates and influence voter perspectives. Platforms on both sides of the political spectrum are amplifying targeted messages to sway undecided voters.
Elon Musk, often criticised for spreading disinformation on his platform X (formerly Twitter), which has over 200 million daily active users, has been actively supporting Donald Trump’s campaign. Musk has contributed $75 million from his $242 billion fortune to Trump’s America PAC (political action committee) over the summer and, more recently, pledged to donate $1 million a day to voters signing his PAC petition supporting the Constitution.
As the election draws near, the battle for the electorate’s attention is intensifying, with alternative media on digital platforms proving more influential than ever, potentially shaping history for better or worse.
To analyse this phenomenon, Karolina Koc-Michalska, a professor at Audencia, and colleagues at eighteen other universities explored the adoption and use of social and alternative media in Europe and the United States. Their study resulted in the publication of a report entitled ‘Unconventional Voices: Alternative Media Trends in Europe and the US’.
The digital age has seen the birth of a plethora of new alternative media outlets, alongside traditional mainstream media. These are particularly thriving now, thanks to social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, X/Twitter and YouTube which disseminate their content directly and effectively to their users, and for a fraction of the financial investment of traditional media. Although many of these alternative media sources contribute to a healthy media pluralism, deeper community representation and further critical thinking, unfortunately some are active in spreading disinformation and false narratives.
The research, which was carried out under the aegis of THREATPIE (THREATs and potentials of a changing Political Information Environment), an EU-funded project which examines how the current changes in the political information environments affect the conditions for a healthy democracy, included two distinct studies: a survey investigating alternative media usage across 18 countries in 2022, and a content analysis focusing on the communication strategies employed by selected alternative media outlets on Facebook and X/Twitter in 2021 and 2023. A total of 26,000 people across 18 countries were surveyed.
Findings
Study on alternative media users
The researchers discovered that in the countries surveyed, 42% of respondents declared using alternative media outlets. In Greece, Romania, and Spain, non-mainstream media appeared more popular, with 60% of the population declaring usage. Alternative media were least popular in Belgium, Germany and the UK, with only 25% of respondents from these countries reporting usage. Notably, a significant portion of alternative media consumers engaged with both left-leaning and right-leaning outlets. Furthermore, alternative media users, with a mean age of 40, tend to be younger than their non-user counterparts, whose mean age stands at 43. This pattern holds true across the vast majority of surveyed countries, except for the Czech Republic and Greece.
In terms of political orientation, alternative media users exhibit a tendency towards right-leaning ideologies compared to non-users, a trend consistent across the majority of countries surveyed. And even in cases where users lean left of non-users, such as in Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Greece, and France, the difference in political inclination between the two groups remains very small.
Study on social media users
The researchers discovered that Facebook and Facebook Messenger enjoy widespread usage across the majority of the 18 surveyed countries, whereas Telegram consistently ranks as the least popular service. Notably, they observed substantial disparities in platform preferences among countries. For instance, German-speaking countries exhibit lower enthusiasm for Facebook and Facebook Messenger compared to the rest of the sample. Conversely, WhatsApp is used rather less in Nordic countries.
Overall, female users dominate the Facebook demographic, along with a younger cohort showing heightened political interest. Similarly, X/Twitter users mirror many characteristics of Facebook users, although here the gender distribution is slightly more balanced.
The Alternative media’s performance on Facebook and Twitter
The content disseminated by alternative sources and individuals predominantly includes links to external sites, accompanied by succinct, graffiti-style messages. There was also a preference for posts featuring visual elements such as photos or videos. And stylistically, posts featuring rhetorical questions tend to garner the highest user engagement, whereas emojis are sparingly used.
Regarding topics, overall, discussions revolving around political institutions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and matters of law and order dominated social media discourse in 2021. However, by 2023, the war in Ukraine emerged as the most frequently referenced subject.
United Kingdom
In the UK, 25 percent of the sample used alternative media sources, and their mean age was 36.6. The survey shows that in 2021 alternative media focused predominantly on government and party politics, with attention directed towards elections, advocacy and climate change, particularly in light of Glasgow’s COP26 summit. The pandemic received some coverage but to a lesser extent. Additionally, there was significant discussion around law and order, primarily centred on topics related to policing and crime. However, the landscape shifted notably in 2023. While party politics remained a prominent theme, there was a decrease in coverage related to climate change. Instead, we saw a substantial increase in attention towards work, pay and strikes, indicating a shift in societal concerns. We also saw the emergence of a cluster related to the topics of journalism and the press. Remarkably, the word ‘war’ received minimal attention, and there were very few references to the geopolitical situation in Ukraine or Russia in 2023. In 2023, the most popular alternative media sources in the study on both Facebook and X/Twitter were NovaraMedia, Byline Times and Guido Fawkes.
United States
In the United States, 41 percent of the sample used alternative media sources, and their mean age was 38.7. The survey shows that in 2021 discussions within US alternative media primarily centred on two main topics: national politics and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, there were mentions of courts and abortion (although the Dobbs decision on abortion rights only surfaced in 2022), and a significant focus on lifestyle and dietary choices, with terms like ‘vegan’, ‘cheese’, and ‘dairy-free’ featuring frequently. By 2023, the narrative had shifted significantly, with attention overwhelmingly directed towards Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party. Other public figures such as Ron DeSantis and Tucker Carlson also gained traction, possibly due to DeSantis’ presidential bid and Carlson’s departure from Fox News. A notable difference from 2021 was the emergence of crime and immigration as significant topic clusters in 2023, with keywords like ‘police’, ‘shoot’, ‘arrest’, ‘charge’, ‘law’, ‘border’, and ‘migrant’ becoming prominent in discussions. In 2023, the most popular alternative media source in the study on both Facebook and X/Twitter included OccupyDemocrats, Breitbart News and DailyCaller.
Professor Koc-Michalska concludes: “Our study is an important pan-European and US-focused comparative study on alternative media, providing a distinctive perspective on its usage among the population and the topics of interest, including the upcoming U.S. elections. These channels are often lacking rigorous fact-checking processes or verification mechanisms, yet have gained immense popularity, particularly around politically charged events like elections. This influence brings a significant capacity to shape public opinion and, in some cases, sow discord. With the U.S. elections only a few days away, the role of alternative media in amplifying disinformation is more pronounced than ever. It is therefore critical to remain vigilant. This survey provides accurate national snapshots and serves as a crucial reference tool in combating the dissemination and impact of distorted information, particularly during pivotal moments like election cycles.”
