Inspired, or rather, ashamed by an article today in the Guardian's media section, we've decided to do a links story on some people who use the Internet in its most revolutionary aspect - bypassing the rich and powerful on the planet to get their own message across.

The Register was created in order to get the information that we as journalists knew about out there to the reading public quickly, directly, in our own style and with fewer editorial/advertising constraints than the incumbents[and pop in a few cracking jokes too].

The competitiveness and relative openness of the IT industry has made this task possible. However, while we cover IT, there are many out there using the Internet for the same purpose. Except they've bitten a far bigger hand and one belonging to a particularly tetchy giant.

This then is our rundown of sites which cover the news that for one reason or other the large media corporations decide not to touch. Open your mind (or somesuch hippy sentiment).

www.indymedia.org
This is the biggest independent media portal. It's a huge collective of sites dotted all over the world and prides itself on covering news in a professional and independent manner. Very interesting.

www.undercurrents.org
A well-known site, partly because of its quality and partly because of its founders willingness to act as a respectable spokesperson for independent media. It is well run, contains large numbers of articles, videos etc. It has also set up training opportunities in a bid to get more people working independently.

www.mediachannel.org
Another media portal covering alternative news not covered by mainstream. Not as big as IndyMedia but still definitely worth looking at.

www.alternet.org
Another media portal. Similar to MediaChannel, covering alternative news.

www.squall.co.uk
Describing itself as "a forum for radical quality journalism and photography", Squall often has very interesting features and different perspectives. Its interviews are often good. However it does have a bit of a bee in its bonnet and can be over-biased.

www.eco-action.org/dod
Do or Die - an online and offline mag written by activists for activists. It's interesting to hear what is going on but lacks objectivity.

www.piratetv.net
This is like a pirate radio station on the Net. Most of its output is music - due to its being owned by independent music labels - but does occasionally run specials on alternative news.

And that's our list. It could be far, far longer but we reckon these are the main ones to check out. If you find you want to know what is really going on in the world, they will not doubt lead you to other sites. But then you could just make a nice cuppa tea and watch Eastenders. ®

Related Link

Media Guardian article