Miriam Kroman Brems

What are the democratic implications of alternative news media?

Alternative news media 

In her PhD project, Miriam Kroman Brems demonstrates that, in Denmark, there is reason to temper concerns over negative democratic implications of the use of alternative news media. 

”Brexit and the first election of Donald Trump as US President spawned great interest in alternative news sites critical of mainstream news media and characterised by ideological partisanship. In Denmark, this includes e.g. Den Korte Avis and Solidaritet, and I wanted to understand why parts of the population are attracted to this type of news content and its impact on democracy,” says Doctor of Media Science and Journalism Miriam Kroman Brems. The emergence of alternative news sites i.a. caused concern that users of the sites would lose faith in mainstream news media and end up in so-called echo chambers. “My project demonstrates that even though Danish users of alternative news media have less faith in mainstream news media compared to the rest of the population, they still have considerable faith in media in general. At the same time, they actively use mainstream media,” Miriam says. This is due to our high level of confidence in the media and politicians in general compared to other countries, she argues. “This suggests that the democratic implications of the use of alternative news media depend on the specific political and media context. Therefore, it is important to emphasise that while there is reason to temper concerns in Denmark, this may not be the case in other countries, where the population has less faith in the media and politicians,” Miriam explains. Her PhD project is based on a combination of qualitative interviews and a large quantitative questionnaire survey. She continues her work as a postdoc focussing on social media