You've likely seen these cable TV “news” shows, such as the CNN show pictured below,
where an equal number of left-wing and right-wing talking heads debate an issue, interrupting and talking over
one another, with the show's host trying to maintain control.
It reminds me of professional wrestling. It engages us as we root for our side and can't believe the other
side is so evil. Several years ago, I coined a term for these shows—newsytainment.
Do you learn anything from this? Is this a useful way to spend your time day after day?
A far better way to spend your time is to tune in to media that teaches you the things you need to
know to be a better citizen. A better voter.
The establishment media provides little of this. That media is owned by
wealthy individuals and corporations who try to influence us to think in ways that benefit them, and
who “buy” our politicians.
Big Broadcasters Cave to Trump
On August 6, 2025, The Lever published an article titled Big Broadcasters Plan For A Trump TV
Takeover that details a “plan to let MAGA mouthpieces monopolize the local TV news
landscape.” With organizations like CBS News, Columbia University, and others caving to Trump's
court challenges, it's time to find better sources of news.
This article suggests independent media that is far better.
Economics
The Democrats screwed the pooch in 2024. The Kamala Harris campaign focused on Donald Trump and how
evil he was. However, the electorate wanted economic help and a solution to high prices and inflation. Donald
Trump was seen as the one who would give it to them. The electorate saw him as an economic
populist—the only one in the race.
The Harris Campaign failed to appeal to the voters who cared more about the economy than Trump. I've
written about this in my article “A
Woman President?”
You should gain an understanding of and stay informed about economic issues, and listen to those who
are knowledgeable on the subject—not those who want you to think about the economy in ways that
benefit them. You won't get this by watching establishment news media.
These media figures focus on economic-related issues. See if their take on the economy makes sense
to you.
Yanis Varoufakis
Yanis Varoufakis is a Greek economist, academic, and politician who served as Minister of Finance of
Greece in 2015 during the European financial crisis. He's highly critical of the European Union (EU)
and believes Europe is an insignificant player in the world economy. The two powerhouses of the world economy
are the United States and China, with China overtaking the U.S.
He claims that capitalism has undergone significant changes in recent years, largely because of the
large, Internet-based companies, with multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos and Amazon being a prime example. He
refers to the new world economy as technofeudalism.
He does not have a regularly scheduled show of his own, but appears frequently on other shows and
is asked to speak at numerous prestigious venues. His explanations of economic concepts are a delight
to listen to. He is especially popular with Chinese audiences who want to know why and how to
deal with the U.S. desire to start a new Cold War.
Richard Wolff has a regularly scheduled show on YouTube. Wolff claims to be a Marxist socialist and
is a frequent critic of capitalism. If you grew up during the Cold War (in the 1950s through the
1990s), you'll likely have a dim view of Marxism, given that the propaganda during those years
demonized Marxism and equated it with communism. Yet, you probably agree that today's extreme wealth
inequality is a problem caused by the extreme brand of capitalism found in the United States.
Give Richard Wolff a try and see what his plan is for fixing our broken economy. You can start
with this interview on Democracy Now! :
In this video, Krugman doesn't disagree that socialism is a cure for the ills of our extreme capitalism.
He's just concerned that the word "socialism" is a problem for older people who were brainwashed during
the Cold War, and with Republicans who bash socialism at every opportunity.
Although Wolff and Varoufakis tend to agree on economic matters, there are issues on which they
disagree. One of those things is BRICS. Wolff thinks
that the BRICS countries pose a threat to U.S. capitalism and hegemony, whereas Varoufakis thinks they are
not as much of a threat because Wall Street tends to reinforce U.S. hegemony. Both accept that the
U.S. likely has an unsustainable hegemony.
Here's an example of Wolff, a socialist, and Cenk Uygur, a capitalist, discussing the extreme
form of capitalism in the United States.
Jeffrey Sachs is an economics professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at
Columbia University. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and a variety of
other distinguished positions. Visit his website for more details.
These are independent shows that are either daily or occur no less often than weekly.
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program that's hosted by
journalists Amy Goodman, Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. It was founded in February 1996.
The show's opening theme music is Need to Know by Incognito:
The Young Turks (TYT) is one of the oldest and largest independent networks on the
Internet. It was founded by Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, and Dave Koller in 2002.
TYT offers numerous shows. The main show, called The Young Turks, runs daily with hosts
Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian who is the show's producer. These are the other shows:
In 2024, frustrated that the Democratic Party was going to allow Joe Biden to run for a second term,
he announced his candidacy for president. He didn't do it to win the nomination. He hoped it would inspire
Democratic politicians to challenge Biden.
When you tune in to TYT, you'll quickly see that they are not influenced by either political party.
They're just as likely to criticize Democrats as Republicans.
You'll also see that Cenk Uygur doesn't hold
back his rage over things like the murder of 20,000 children in Gaza.
Ana Kasparian is a host and producer of the daily news show The Young Turks that engages viewers
by asking them to participate with realtime feedback (comments are read on the air).
Kasparian had a boost in popularity when she voiced her frustration with religion. Here's the video:
After that video received attention, she was asked to appear on numerous other shows. She's appeared
on the Pierce Morgan and Tucker Carlson shows, for example, to take her left-leaning views to the
right-leaning world. She's also appeared on CNN debating right-wing panelists. She's said she makes
these appearances because, “I want to get our message out there.”
One of the more successful independent startups is Zeteo. It was founded by former MSNBC personality Mehdi
Hasan. Hasan made a name for himself and collected a loyal following of viewers to his debates in London. Hasan frequently gets
the better of his opponents during debates, using techniques that he describes in a book he wrote, titled “Win Every Argument:
The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking”
His most effective technique is to learn everything about his opponent in advance. It's common for Mehdi to respond to his opponent
with “Didn't you in 2003 at the xxxxx event, say just the opposite...”
From time to time, Mehdi Hasan invites humorists on his show named We're not kidding.
Here's an example.
Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges is an author, journalist, and commentator. He spent many years reporting for The
Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, and the
New York Times. Starting in 2006, Hedges wrote a column for Truthdig.
Hedges videos tend to be on subjects that relate to the areas of the world he covered as a war
correspondent, and are strong on history.
This is a daily show hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti. Krystal is left-leaning and Sagar
is right-leaning. Their show is available by subscription ($90/year), and there are currently 1.56 million
subscribers.
Here are numerous independent people who advocate for ordinary people, and whose opinions don't seem to be
influenced by their alignment with political parties.
Dave Smith
David Smith is an American comedian, podcaster, and political commentator who hosts the
libertarian podcast Part of the Problem. He's a close friend of Joe Rogan and a regular guest on The
Joe Rogan Experience.
Smith announced in June 2025 that, although he voted for an supported Donald Trump, he now thinks
Trump should be impeached. His thinking now aligns more closely with the political left (than it did before).
Glenn Greenwald gained prominence as a result of the 2013 Edward Snowden affair. Snowden selected
Greenwald and three other journalists to release classified NSA documents to. Snowden selected
Greenwald because of his coverage of national security subjects.
Leeja Miller is an attorney who publishes educational videos on a variety of topics. Many relate to politics
and the problems with living in the United States. Here's her webpage: LEEJA MILLER
Noam Chomsky is the ultimate truth-teller, an intellectual who comes from a family of
intellectuals. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute
professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He's a prolific author who's
written more than 150 books.
Here are two videos that shows Chomsky's thinking on the United States role in the world:
These are shows that are right-leaning but not always completely looney.
Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan is a podcaster who is seen as conservative, and often cited by Democrats as an example of
the kind of ultra-popular media personality needed by the left wing.
After he interviewed Bernie Sanders in
2020, Rogan endorsed Sanders for president. So, he's not a right-wing idealog. Yet, Rogan has had Alex
Jones on his show, talking about insane things like post-birth abortions. Jones IS friggin nuts and
Rogan puts him on the air.
From time-to-time, big establishment media companies fire their show hosts and their paid
contributors. Many of them, who can't find work elsewhere (because of non-compete contract clauses
perhaps) become independent and publish their shows on Internet media platforms, such as YouTube and
Substack.
When they're no longer subject to the restrictions placed on them by their big network employers,
some radically change their stance on issues and politicians. The best examples of this are Tucker
Carlson and Joy Reid, who reverse their positions on issues.
Formerly with CBS News. Rather was a popular news anchor on CBS News, but was fired after
an incident related to the reporting on George W. Bush's service in the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Formerly on CNN. He hosted the Don Lemon Tonight show from 2014 to 2022. After several
on-air controversies and reports of alleged decades-long instances of misogyny, he was fired by CNN in
April 2023.
Formerly on CNN. He served as CNN's chief White House correspondent during the Obama and first Trump
administrations. He became the story when he clashed with Donald Trump at press briefings.
After Trump's first term, CNN capitalized on Costa's notoriety by giving him his own show.
In January 2025, after Trump's innauguration for his second term, CNN tried to move Acosta's show to
a non-prime time time slot. Most felt that this was to appease Trump. Acosta quit CNN.
Formerly on MSNBC. Reid's show on MSNBC was cancelled. She now has her own podcast on Substack.
Reid has changed dramatically after leaving MSNBC. Before leaving, she towed the Democratic Party line.
In 2016, when it appeared that Bernie Sanders would win the presidential primary, she was nearly in tears.
Her reaction to Sanders and progressives generally was similar to that of Chris Matthews, who suggested that
he might be shot in Central Park by communists - or something like that.
Now that she's no longer with MSNBC, she's a cheerleader for the progressives. She fully supports
the Fighting Oligarchy Tour with Bernie Sanders and AOC. But I'm betting that, like Keith Olbermann,
she'll take the side of whoever she thinks the winners will be.
Formerly on Fox News. Carlson was fired from Fox News in March 2023 because Fox wanted to distance
itself from controversity resulting from their defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
During the court case, recordings of Carlson were revealed where he says disparaging remarks about
Donald Trump. There were other reasons as well.
Carlson's behavior changed dramatically after he left Fox. He still holds right-wing beliefs, but he's
now critical of the Trump administration.
These media organizations are not independent but are better than most of the media companies in the United States.
C-SPAN
It's questionable that C-SPAN can be called independent media given that it's supported by the nation's
cable TV providers, but their content generally has a minimum of bias.
C-SPAN reaches an estimated 20.5 million Americans monthly. It's available on your cable TV system. Some or
most of these systems have two or three C-SPAN channels, named C-SPAN 1, C-SPAN 2, and C-SPAN 3.
You can access C-SPAN using your web browser at cspan.org
France 24 is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris.
It's available on most cable TV systems. You can access it from your computer by pointing your web browser to
https://www.france24.com/en/.
There's an app for your phone, but it has advertisements that are difficult to remove from your phone's screen.
I grew frustrated with this and removed the app.
DW News
DW News is a global news TV program broadcast by German public state-owned international
broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
