Independent Media

I thought that Jeff Cohen's discussion on the state of independent media was interesting and thought provoking. To be honest, I had never really though about independent media and how it is affecting my future as a journalist. I had always been skeptical about a possible career in something that would probably not be able to offer me health insurance or a steady salary. I know that sounds shallow and naive, but I have worked in the real world and understand the difficulties that a "backpack" journalist might encounter.
But hearing about Josh Marshall's media organization forming was exciting to me. I'm even interested in finding an internship at one of the multiple online media services popping up.
My only criticism of the idea of independent media is the idea that biased journalism is ok as long as transparency is used. I disagree with this idea. Yes, it is honorable of these mediums to admit a specific slant, but where does that leave the average reader? Trying to figure out which media outlet is telling them the whole truth. I know that corporate media cannot and will not offer this level of truth, but slanted Internet media outlets leave the reader having to consume multiple news outlets and deciphering what is the whole story. This is not necessarily a bad thing but how many average readers are going to search out every aspect of a story...not many.