Using alternative media sources

         At times, I have wondered why I don't hear a lot about anti war opinions in the main news sources that i use.  If you look online, you can find sites such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative. These websites give us very big critiques of the U.S. foreign policy, however these voices are missing from major news outlets a lot of the time. One reason for this is because large media businesses are owned by large companies, and many of these companies are connected with the defense industry. Companies like these usually get money from military spending. Because of this, they are not as likely to promote views from antiwar. In addition to this, both of these big political parties in our country have supported interventions in the military, they have mainly done this after 9/11. This makes war feel like a collaborative problem. This means media outlets focus a lot of the time on stories that support military action. This leaves basically no room for people's voices who disagree.

     Another part of this is the "military-industrial complex”. This shows us the close relationship that the government, military, and defense contractors have with each other. This big network can make it more difficult for anti war messages to be seen in today's mainstream media. War stories can get a lot of attention and they can be easier for reporting than talking about peace, which is usually slower and way less dramatic.

     In our country, serving in the military can be seen by people as a sign of patriotism. This means that questioning war can be seen to some as unpatriotic. This makes it more difficult for people's views as antiwar to be taken more seriously. Because of this, websites such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative are very crucial because they give us a space for these views, however they don’t receive the same attention as the popular and mainstream views. I think that by looking for and being open to look at alternative media sources, as people we can get a more balanced view of what is really currently going on in our world.