Authentic Journalism

Authentic Journalism is a term used by Al Giordano to describe a journalism unadulterated by money that "has a clear vision, a vision consistent with an authentically democratic society." He describes it as:

"journalism that doesn't pander to the interests of the advertisers [...] That doesn't go and look for more upscale readership in order to please those advertisers, but rather serves people – in a way that the people come to believe and to know that the newspaper, or whatever media it is, is part of them and serves their interests."

He further rejects the "alternative" label, saying that large media (like The New York Times) are the actual alternatives to real journalism, for the reasons above.

As defined by Mario Menéndez Rodríguez, who coined the phrase, Authentic Journalism is defined by the following process: "First, we gather the people together to identify their problems in their own words, and the newspaper gives public voice to those words. Second, we gather the people, all the people, the very same people together to determine what are the solutions to those problems, big and small, and the newspaper gives voice to those solutions. And third, we gather the people together to force the authorities to either solve or get out of the way of the solutions the people want, and the newspaper is on the side of the people in that struggle to the ultimate consequences."

School of Authentic Journalism

Giordano founded the School of Authentic Journalism on October 1, 2002, to teach the practice of Authentic Journalism, specifically as it relates to reporting on the War on Drugs. The 2010 school, which took place in the Yucatán Peninsula, included keynote speaker James Lawson and had over 60 students and professors.