About AlterNet
AlterNet's Mission AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of hundreds of other independent media sources. AlterNet’s aim is to inspire action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, health care issues, and more. Since its inception in 1998, AlterNet.org has grown dramatically to keep pace with the public demand for independent news. We provide free online content to millions of readers, serving as a reliable filter, keeping our vast audience well-informed and engaged, helping them to navigate a culture of information overload and providing an alternative to the commercial media onslaught. Our aim is to stimulate, inform, and instigate.
Strong Content AlterNet publishes grassroots success stories and inspirational narratives alongside hard-hitting critiques of policies, investigative reports and expert analysis. We emphasize workable solutions to persistent social problems. Our editorial mix underscores a commitment to fairness, equality and global stewardship, and to making connections across generational, ethnic and issue lines. In order to provide deeper coverage on today’s key issues, AlterNet features 12 Special Coverage Areas, each with its own hub site, editor, and weekly newsletter.
Huge Readership and Reach AlterNet receives more than 1.5 million unique monthly visitors and more than 7.5 million monthly page views. AlterNet’s readers comprise a strong base, who help virally spread AlterNet content to their networks by forwarding stories and emailing links. Many of AlterNet’s readers come from search engines (like Google) and news aggregator sites (such as Digg or Reddit), a testament to the fact that AlterNet reaches beyond the typical “choir” of progressive readers.
Building a Strong Community and Influence on the Web AlterNet is successful at building community, as well as influence. Over 30,000 commenters are registered on the site, and many of our stories receive hundreds of comments from these dedicated readers. According to Technorati.com (the recognized authority on the topic), more than 97,000 blog posts link to AlterNet content, driving traffic back to our site, and virally marketing our content across the web.
Connecting Readers to Opportunities for Action AlterNet provides its readers with pathways to action. We help connect our readers to opportunities to make change, be it through specific action campaigns, signing petitions, or by learning about the grassroots efforts of groups engaged in the work.
Financial Stability & Sustainability Financial stability is important to AlterNet. More than 40 percent of our annual operating budget is self-generated through our advertising program and online donor program, both of which are leveraged by our large traffic. We are dedicated to business growth, and our budget has grown consistently over the past decade, as we have increased our earned income level.
STRATEGIC JOURNALISM AlterNet has developed a unique model of journalism to confront the failures of corporate media, as well as the vitriol and disinformation of right wing media, especially “hate talk” media. Not only do we keep our readers highly informed on a wide array of topics, from hundreds of experts and sources, but we also provide laser focus on the most compelling issues of the day. We offer our readers comprehensive information, a positive vision for the future, and concrete action steps towards change. AlterNet believes that media must have a higher purpose beyond the essential goal of keeping people informed. We insist on playing an active role in helping our community funnel its energy into change.
THE NEED FOR SUPPORT AlterNet believes that media must have a higher purpose beyond the essential goal of keeping people informed. We insist on playing an active role in helping our community funnel its energy into change. To achieve this, we will continue to practice tough and visionary strategic journalism. We’ll focus on the most compelling news on each of the issues in a coordinated and constituency-oriented way. And we will do it as a matter of fundamental organization, drilling deep into policy, developing constituencies, and engaging the best thinkers and writers. AlterNet’s objectives are to raise consciousness and engage readers by publishing and promoting quality content, and to build and expand partnerships with strategic organizations and relevant writers – all with the broader goal of raising awareness, changing policies, and connecting readers to real solutions and ways they can become involved in effecting change. In the coming year, AlterNet will reach more than 10 million people who are seeking alternative perspectives and information. By investing in AlterNet, you are joining us in providing the information and ideas that will motivate these millions to participate in social change efforts. Join us. Click here to make your investment in AlterNet.
MEET THE ALTERNET STAFF
Don Hazen is the Executive Director of the Independent Media Institute and Executive Editor of the two-time Webby award-winning news site, AlterNet.org. AlterNet has been a top content provider in the progressive and independent media world since 1997, with consistently increasing audiences currently averaging 2.7 million unique visitors per month. The former publisher of Mother Jones magazine, Hazen has edited and co-edited several books, including; Dangerous Brew: Exposing the Tea Party's Agenda to Take Over America, Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics, The 99%: How Occupy Wall Street Movement is Changing America, and others. Don conceived of and organized the two Media & Democracy Congresses in San Francisco and New York City, and has managed political campaigns in New York City for Ruth Messinger and David Dinkins. He holds an MA in counseling from the University of Massachusetts and a BA in politics from Princeton University.
Tara Lohan is a senior editor at AlterNet and heads up the Environment, Food, and Water special coverage sections. She is the editor of Water Consciousness: HowWeAll Have to Change to Protect Our Most Critical Resource from AlterNet Books. She has worked as a writer, editor and organizer on environmental and social justice issues for ten years. She has a master’s in Literary Nonfiction from the University of Oregon and bachelor's in English and Environmental Studies from Middlebury College.
Joshua Holland is AlterNet's senior staff writer. Based in San Francisco, Holland also edits AlterNet's Corporations and Work and Immigration special coverage. He was the recipient of a 2005 Schumann Foundation grant for independent journalism, and has won two Project Censored Awards for AlterNet, including PC's #1 story for 2008. Holland graduated from the University of Southern California's School of International Relations, with foci in security studies and international political economy.
Adele M. Stan is AlterNet's Washington bureau chief. She began her media career at Ms. magazine, where she served both on staff and as a contributing editor. Stan served as a columnist and blogger for The American Prospect Online and an essayist for The Guardian's Comment Is Free site. Stan's work has also appeared in Mother Jones,The New Republic, the Village Voice, The Nation, The Advocate, Salon.com and the Washington Blade, as well as on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Daily News. She also blogs at the Huffington Post.
Tana Ganeva is deputy managing editor and writes and blogs at AlterNet.org. She's also in charge of AlterNet's Reproductive Justice and Gender and Sex and Relationships special coverage areas. She has an MA in Media Arts from the University of Arizona and a BA in History from Reed College.
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd is an associate editor at AlterNet and a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Formerly the executive editor of The FADER, her work has appeared in VIBE, SPIN, New York Times and various other magazines and websites.
Kristen Gwynne graduated from New York University with a degree in Journalism and Psychology. She covers Drugs at AlterNet, specializing in addiction and prescription pills. Gwynne grew up in the Philly area and is based in New York. She is the youngest AlterNet employee.
Lynn Parramore is a contributing editor at Alternet, co-founder of Recessionwire, and founding editor of New Deal 2.0. She is the author of Reading the Sphinx: Ancient Egypt in Nineteenth-Century Literary Culture and has taught cultural theory at NYU.
Elizabeth Hines is Alternet’s Education editor. A parent, activist and journalist, Hines was formerly the Director of Communications for The White House Project—a nonpartisan organization that aims to advance women’s political leadership nationwide. Her original work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Women’s eNews, AOL’s BlackVoices, Black Enterprise Magazine, and Babble.com. Hines is the co-author of the bestselling biography,Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, winner of a 2004 Non-Fiction Book Honor from the American Library Association. She earned her B.A. from Yale University and did her graduate work in Harvard University’s Department of English and American Language and Literature.
Roxanne Cooper is the associate publisher at AlterNet, where she oversees the organization's business-side operations. She has 20+ years experience in media management, marketing and advertising sales and has held positions with the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, LA Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian and Stars and Stripes. You can follow her on Twitter @AlterRox
Sian Taylor Gowan is AlterNet's advertising director. Sian brings seven years of online advertising experience from SFGate.com and TMP Worldwide/Monster.com, as well as a Sales & Marketing management background in the entertainment photo industry. She is a native San Franciscan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University.
Kristen Lee is AlterNet's communications & development associate. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in International Studies prior to moving to San Francisco to work in green media.
Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance journalist based in New York City. She’s a frequent contributor to Change.org’s Poverty in America blog and has written for outlets including the Washington Post’s Who Runs Gov project, Time Out New York, TheLMagazine.com, and Philanthropy News Digest.
Sarah Seltzer is an Associate Editor at AlterNet, a staff writer at RH Reality Check and freelance writer based in New York City. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and the LA Times and on the websites of The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal and Jezebel. Read more of her writing at her website.
Sarah Jaffe is an associate editor and writer at AlterNet, covering politics, labor, the economy, inequality, and pop culture. Her work has been published in The Nation, The American Prospect, Bitch magazine, Billboard, and many other publications. She has a master's in journalism from Temple University and a BA from Loyola University New Orleans, and lives in Brooklyn with a spoiled dog. You can follow her on Twitter at @seasonothebitch.
Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow covering democracy issues. He is a longtime print and broadcast journalist and has reported for National Public Radio, Monitor Radio, Marketplace, AlterNet, TomPaine.com and many newspapers. He has written and co-authored three books on voting rights since 2004, including Count My Vote (AlterNet Books, 2008).
Aliza Bartfield is the business and development associate at Alternet. She has worked in non-profit development, events and administration with a variety of organizations including Young People For, the organizing fellowship program at People For the American Way Foundation. She has a BA from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.
AlterNet's Mission AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of hundreds of other independent media sources. AlterNet’s aim is to inspire action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, health care issues, and more. Since its inception in 1998, AlterNet.org has grown dramatically to keep pace with the public demand for independent news. We provide free online content to millions of readers, serving as a reliable filter, keeping our vast audience well-informed and engaged, helping them to navigate a culture of information overload and providing an alternative to the commercial media onslaught. Our aim is to stimulate, inform, and instigate.
Strong Content AlterNet publishes grassroots success stories and inspirational narratives alongside hard-hitting critiques of policies, investigative reports and expert analysis. We emphasize workable solutions to persistent social problems. Our editorial mix underscores a commitment to fairness, equality and global stewardship, and to making connections across generational, ethnic and issue lines. In order to provide deeper coverage on today’s key issues, AlterNet features 12 Special Coverage Areas, each with its own hub site, editor, and weekly newsletter.
Huge Readership and Reach AlterNet receives more than 1.5 million unique monthly visitors and more than 7.5 million monthly page views. AlterNet’s readers comprise a strong base, who help virally spread AlterNet content to their networks by forwarding stories and emailing links. Many of AlterNet’s readers come from search engines (like Google) and news aggregator sites (such as Digg or Reddit), a testament to the fact that AlterNet reaches beyond the typical “choir” of progressive readers.
Building a Strong Community and Influence on the Web AlterNet is successful at building community, as well as influence. Over 30,000 commenters are registered on the site, and many of our stories receive hundreds of comments from these dedicated readers. According to Technorati.com (the recognized authority on the topic), more than 97,000 blog posts link to AlterNet content, driving traffic back to our site, and virally marketing our content across the web.
Connecting Readers to Opportunities for Action AlterNet provides its readers with pathways to action. We help connect our readers to opportunities to make change, be it through specific action campaigns, signing petitions, or by learning about the grassroots efforts of groups engaged in the work.
Financial Stability & Sustainability Financial stability is important to AlterNet. More than 40 percent of our annual operating budget is self-generated through our advertising program and online donor program, both of which are leveraged by our large traffic. We are dedicated to business growth, and our budget has grown consistently over the past decade, as we have increased our earned income level.
STRATEGIC JOURNALISM AlterNet has developed a unique model of journalism to confront the failures of corporate media, as well as the vitriol and disinformation of right wing media, especially “hate talk” media. Not only do we keep our readers highly informed on a wide array of topics, from hundreds of experts and sources, but we also provide laser focus on the most compelling issues of the day. We offer our readers comprehensive information, a positive vision for the future, and concrete action steps towards change. AlterNet believes that media must have a higher purpose beyond the essential goal of keeping people informed. We insist on playing an active role in helping our community funnel its energy into change.
THE NEED FOR SUPPORT AlterNet believes that media must have a higher purpose beyond the essential goal of keeping people informed. We insist on playing an active role in helping our community funnel its energy into change. To achieve this, we will continue to practice tough and visionary strategic journalism. We’ll focus on the most compelling news on each of the issues in a coordinated and constituency-oriented way. And we will do it as a matter of fundamental organization, drilling deep into policy, developing constituencies, and engaging the best thinkers and writers. AlterNet’s objectives are to raise consciousness and engage readers by publishing and promoting quality content, and to build and expand partnerships with strategic organizations and relevant writers – all with the broader goal of raising awareness, changing policies, and connecting readers to real solutions and ways they can become involved in effecting change. In the coming year, AlterNet will reach more than 10 million people who are seeking alternative perspectives and information. By investing in AlterNet, you are joining us in providing the information and ideas that will motivate these millions to participate in social change efforts. Join us. Click here to make your investment in AlterNet.
MEET THE ALTERNET STAFF
Don Hazen is the Executive Director of the Independent Media Institute and Executive Editor of the two-time Webby award-winning news site, AlterNet.org. AlterNet has been a top content provider in the progressive and independent media world since 1997, with consistently increasing audiences currently averaging 2.7 million unique visitors per month. The former publisher of Mother Jones magazine, Hazen has edited and co-edited several books, including; Dangerous Brew: Exposing the Tea Party's Agenda to Take Over America, Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics, The 99%: How Occupy Wall Street Movement is Changing America, and others. Don conceived of and organized the two Media & Democracy Congresses in San Francisco and New York City, and has managed political campaigns in New York City for Ruth Messinger and David Dinkins. He holds an MA in counseling from the University of Massachusetts and a BA in politics from Princeton University.Tara Lohan is a senior editor at AlterNet and heads up the Environment, Food, and Water special coverage sections. She is the editor of Water Consciousness: HowWeAll Have to Change to Protect Our Most Critical Resource from AlterNet Books. She has worked as a writer, editor and organizer on environmental and social justice issues for ten years. She has a master’s in Literary Nonfiction from the University of Oregon and bachelor's in English and Environmental Studies from Middlebury College.Joshua Holland is AlterNet's senior staff writer. Based in San Francisco, Holland also edits AlterNet's Corporations and Work and Immigration special coverage. He was the recipient of a 2005 Schumann Foundation grant for independent journalism, and has won two Project Censored Awards for AlterNet, including PC's #1 story for 2008. Holland graduated from the University of Southern California's School of International Relations, with foci in security studies and international political economy.Adele M. Stan is AlterNet's Washington bureau chief. She began her media career at Ms. magazine, where she served both on staff and as a contributing editor. Stan served as a columnist and blogger for The American Prospect Online and an essayist for The Guardian's Comment Is Free site. Stan's work has also appeared in Mother Jones,The New Republic, the Village Voice, The Nation, The Advocate, Salon.com and the Washington Blade, as well as on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Daily News. She also blogs at the Huffington Post.Tana Ganeva is deputy managing editor and writes and blogs at AlterNet.org. She's also in charge of AlterNet's Reproductive Justice and Gender and Sex and Relationships special coverage areas. She has an MA in Media Arts from the University of Arizona and a BA in History from Reed College.Julianne Escobedo Shepherd is an associate editor at AlterNet and a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Formerly the executive editor of The FADER, her work has appeared in VIBE, SPIN, New York Times and various other magazines and websites.Kristen Gwynne graduated from New York University with a degree in Journalism and Psychology. She covers Drugs at AlterNet, specializing in addiction and prescription pills. Gwynne grew up in the Philly area and is based in New York. She is the youngest AlterNet employee.Lynn Parramore is a contributing editor at Alternet, co-founder of Recessionwire, and founding editor of New Deal 2.0. She is the author of Reading the Sphinx: Ancient Egypt in Nineteenth-Century Literary Culture and has taught cultural theory at NYU.Elizabeth Hines is Alternet’s Education editor. A parent, activist and journalist, Hines was formerly the Director of Communications for The White House Project—a nonpartisan organization that aims to advance women’s political leadership nationwide. Her original work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Women’s eNews, AOL’s BlackVoices, Black Enterprise Magazine, and Babble.com. Hines is the co-author of the bestselling biography,Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, winner of a 2004 Non-Fiction Book Honor from the American Library Association. She earned her B.A. from Yale University and did her graduate work in Harvard University’s Department of English and American Language and Literature.Roxanne Cooper is the associate publisher at AlterNet, where she oversees the organization's business-side operations. She has 20+ years experience in media management, marketing and advertising sales and has held positions with the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, LA Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian and Stars and Stripes. You can follow her on Twitter @AlterRoxSian Taylor Gowan is AlterNet's advertising director. Sian brings seven years of online advertising experience from SFGate.com and TMP Worldwide/Monster.com, as well as a Sales & Marketing management background in the entertainment photo industry. She is a native San Franciscan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University.Kristen Lee is AlterNet's communications & development associate. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in International Studies prior to moving to San Francisco to work in green media.Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance journalist based in New York City. She’s a frequent contributor to Change.org’s Poverty in America blog and has written for outlets including the Washington Post’s Who Runs Gov project, Time Out New York, TheLMagazine.com, and Philanthropy News Digest.Sarah Seltzer is an Associate Editor at AlterNet, a staff writer at RH Reality Check and freelance writer based in New York City. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and the LA Times and on the websites of The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal and Jezebel. Read more of her writing at her website.Sarah Jaffe is an associate editor and writer at AlterNet, covering politics, labor, the economy, inequality, and pop culture. Her work has been published in The Nation, The American Prospect, Bitch magazine, Billboard, and many other publications. She has a master's in journalism from Temple University and a BA from Loyola University New Orleans, and lives in Brooklyn with a spoiled dog. You can follow her on Twitter at @seasonothebitch.Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow covering democracy issues. He is a longtime print and broadcast journalist and has reported for National Public Radio, Monitor Radio, Marketplace, AlterNet, TomPaine.com and many newspapers. He has written and co-authored three books on voting rights since 2004, including Count My Vote (AlterNet Books, 2008).Aliza Bartfield is the business and development associate at Alternet. She has worked in non-profit development, events and administration with a variety of organizations including Young People For, the organizing fellowship program at People For the American Way Foundation. She has a BA from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.
