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aristarchus [soylentnews.org] writes:

According to The Conversation, UK [theconversation.com],

After the 1992 UK general election, the Sun’s headline famously read: “It’s The Sun Wot Won it”. The claim referred to the paper’s partisan support for the Conservatives during the campaign – including, more crucially, its highly critical coverage of Labour and leader Neil Kinnock – and the perceived impact it had on public opinion, which resulted in a surprise Tory victory.

Despite evidence that they help set the broadcast news agenda, nearly 20 years on the UK national press are often viewed as being less influential in the digital age, particularly when it comes to deciding who the next Labour party leader will be.

Today, the rise of alt-left media sites, such as The Canary and Evolve Politics, have become increasingly important news sources that offer a counter-balance to the largely right-wing UK national press. During the 2017 general election campaign, they often produced articles more widely shared than many established legacy news outlets.

Fundamentally, the alt-right is an internet phenomenon? Possibly. Can Labour play the same dank game?

With the Labour leadership contest now in full swing, our analysis – as part of an ongoing ESRC funded project at Cardiff and Swansea Universities – suggests that alt-left media sites are playing an important role in informing the relatively small proportion of voters in the UK (estimated to include about 500,000 members) who will decide the next leader of the opposition.

After all, these sites attract largely Labour and left-leaning audiences meaning they are likely to be read by people who can influence the outcome of the leadership election. While it might be expected that most alt-left media sites would favour Rebecca Long-Bailey – following her endorsement from Momentum and close connection to the Corbyn project – coverage of the Labour leadership race has been more nuanced.

As yet, no site has positively endorsed a particular candidate or made an explicit preference for one contender in any article. In fact, consistent with how alt-left sites covered the general election campaign, coverage of candidates has largely been more negative than positive.

"Corbyn Project"? Was not that some kind of Colossus [telegraph.co.uk] computer, or AI movie [imdb.com] from 1970?

Original Submission