The Michigan Mutual Aid Coalition is offering a media literacy training to help working class people interpret traditional news outlets like radio, tv, newspapers and their internet counterparts. The following is a list of news sources that MIMAC finds deliver a superior quality of information to most US corporate sources. We may not always endorse the slant of each source listed, but the facts consistently prove accurate.
Detroit and Southeast Michigan
Detroit Documenters: Simply the best source of information on public government meetings in the area. They track statements and decisions by the officials themselves, as well as public comments and the response they receive.
Data Driven Detroit: Independent data collection for the working class. Very helpful to fact-check assertions by local officials, and they offer classes for how to interpret data, which is essential given the amount of statistical manipulation present in news.
Metro Times: Great resource for day to day news in the area, they tend to be more critical of the powers that be than other outlets. Steve Neavling and Violet Ikonomova are worth following, in particular.
Statewide
Bridge Michigan: Some of the best deep dives statewide, particularly their coverage of issues like the Detroit Water Shut-Offs.
Michigan Public Radio: The local NPR affiliate, but their reporting tends to involve more quotes from grassroots movements then most. Tended to see them a lot when organizing protests, and they take time for the people’s side.
National
Philip Lewis: Deputy Editor of the Huffington Post, he’s from Detroit and has a good sense of focus for issues affecting the working class.
Unicorn Riot: National coverage of protest movements, and the governmental actions prompting them, tends to get a lot of the best spicy footage and helps expose Neo-Nazi groups.
Means TV: National news by and for the working class.
International
Breakthrough News: Excellent international reporting that dives into the full consequences of US and European foreign policy, with a keen focus on the humanity of those subjected to it. Rania Khalek and Eugene Puryear are worth individual follows, in particular.
Mint Press News: All the rampant censorship they’ve survived exposing the crimes of empire is the best endorsement one can give.
12 Ball: If Mint Press isn’t enough and you want to go further, check out this account.
Important History: One can only be media literate if they understand how the societies being reported on actually work, MIMAC recommends these works in particular to gain that understanding.
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney and The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon: Reading both of these works as companion pieces really makes clear not just the economic consequences of colonization, but the psychological ones as well.
Chunka Luta Network: This network’s Linktree contains the “Virtual Rodney – Yellow Thunder Archive and Library” which is a one-stop shop for pro-Landback and anti-colonial scholarship.
Historic.ly: Esha Krishnaswamy has a real knack for diving into the full history of the issues driving the news today.
The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins and Blowback by Chalmers Johnson: A close look at the tactics US intelligence and military used to overthrow a popular democratic administration Indonesia in the 1960s, and how those tactics shaped the last 60 years of foreign policy, which former CIA Analyst Chalmers Johnson details in his work.
Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber: Comprehensive research on the most common method of economic control of the populace by reactionary ruling classes.
Source Vetting Tools
Open Secrets: Excellent resource for tracking campaign donations from elected officials.
Quiver Quant: Analyze stock trades by politicians. If you play the market, you know all about the insider trading they get away with, so this could be a good indicator of when to sell.
Wall Street on Parade: Investigates financial crimes and general skullduggery from the ruling class.
LinkedIn: Reporters must sell themselves a lot to get paying work, this can be helpful in evaluating their expertise.
Police Crime Database : Tracks police crime, helpful for evaluating a department’s rhetoric.
If all else fails, search their name and affiliation and see what pops up.
