Media cooperative
Media model / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Media cooperatives are a form of cooperative that report on news based on the geographic location of their membership, or the general interests of the membership.[1] Often they are a form of alternative media, critical of mainstream perspectives, with progressive society stances.[2][3] However, several cooperatives outside of the West are established mainstream media outlets. Media cooperatives often unite customers and service providers to oppose a pure profit motive in the media.[4] In contrast to mainstream media companies, media cooperatives are able to report independently, due to the minimization of the Principal–agent problem.[citation needed] Media cooperatives are growing in popularity as a form of organization for media reporting, however access to capital and lack of awareness in society present challenges to proliferation.[5]
Examples are: in Germany Junge Welt (1947) and Die Tageszeitung (1978), in Italy Il manifesto (1969), in Switzerland WOZ Die Wochenzeitung (2012) and in Europe Voxeurop (2014). In Hamburg, there is also the "media puzzle factory" as an association of providers to the media and cultural industry.
Some media cooperatives publish the local edition of Le Monde diplomatique.