Nonprofit investigative outlet ProPublica . . .

 . .  probes important issues from the pharmaceutical industry to hate crimes. A ProPublica piece by Justin Elliott during the height of the Edward Snowden controversy questioned the evidence-free claim that NSA mass surveillance of all of us has thwarted 54 terror plots.

"Independent Media in a Time of War" with Amy Goodman

A group of citizen-journalists (Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center) produced a short documentary centered around an April 2003 speech by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!  At the time, many in mainstream media were cheering what they believed was a short, successful and nearly-completed invasion of Iraq; President Bush's approval rating was sky high.

In 2003, a CNN executive actually boasted about having given the Pentagon an advisory role on who his on-air experts would be during the Iraq war. 

Impolite question from indy sparks big controversy

A student in the Spring 2009 indy media class, Chris Lisee, blogged about the impact that a single off-key journalist can have.

Viral video impacts the 2008 presidential election

This 2008 video short "McCain's Mansions" from Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films (with more than 600,000 views) percolated up through the media food chain into the mainstream, where it exploded.  It impacted the campaign, as shown by this self-promotional video, "The Making of McCain's Mansions."

Trailer for "War on Whistleblowers: Free Press & the National Security State" -- a BNF feature doc critical of the Obama administration

Jack Black & the mission of rock 'n' roll

In the movie School of Rock, a substitute teacher (played by Jack Black) explains the mission of rock 'n' roll to his 5th grade students: stickin' it to the man. Do independent media share a similar mission?  (The School of Rock kids in the original cast had a 10-year reunion with Jack Black in 2013.)

Drudge Report's Influence

Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report, a conservative with tabloid sensibilities, exerts major Internet influence as a newswire/referral service, and spreading rumor and innuendo about Democratic politicians.

Brave New Films' viral videos on racism

After the feature-length documentary"Outfoxed," Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films started producing a mix of full-length docs and short viral videos. Millions have watched this online "Racism Is Real" short about PRESENT-DAY racism. Here's  another short,"Black Protests vs. White Riots," that points to mainstream TV news bias.