What is the benefit of independent journalism?

As someone who has experience in journalism and writing, something that's very concerning to me is the amount of people largely growing disinterest or perhaps even losing trust in news outlets, journalists, and studies.

Its understandable. The Cambridge Analytica scandal, the Snowden incident, the "fake news" instigation by U.S. President Donald Trump, the growing division of high-profile media and news outlets, the rising popularity of satire articles, research studies disproving other research studies, at some point the common person will choose to back away, because from the outside-looking-in, it looks like craziness. How are people suppose to think for themselves when they are only told what to think?

Much more of it stems from an ideological standpoint. Dividing political views, personal bias, religion, country, all of it plays a factor in what people do and do not regard as the "truth". Are there even any authentic journalists left?

Kind of. They've evolved more into a social media-adjusted style of journalism to get behind a story. For example, because of YouTube vloggers like Eva Zu Beck or Jakob Mihailo who travel the world and show a lot of what isn't seen by news outlets and media.

Lauren Southern, a Canadian conservative spokeswoman, bravely took on the task of traveling herself to Europe at the height of the EU refugee crisis to show a more genuine look at the faces behind the immigration crisis on both sides. She made a documentary (Borderless) that from start to finish is just pure, non-bias, reported information attained from a single reporter and a cast of cameramen around her.

This is called independent journalism, a term that falls under a larger branch of independent media, which can refer to any form of media like TV, radio, newspapers, the internet that has corporate-free influence.

Independent journalism is not funded by corporations, but by the people. It's different than NPR, even though NPR primarily has donors that support its journalism, it is still funded by the FRC (Federal Radio Commission) and also chip-ins from corporations which can often hint at influence from bigger corporations impeding a story.

Organizations like The Intercept or The Quint are publicly funded journals that hire their own reporters and post non-bias (corporate-free) articles back to the public.

The last decade saw a surge in independent journalism, and quite honestly, it could be the primary form of how the populace stays informed so long as it stays free of government intervention in most companies. It is certainly beneficial in to see a rise in not only non-bias news and media, but also a rise in citizen activity regarding local and international news.

There are, however, drawbacks. Many of independent journalists lack the resources to sometimes acquire the most reliable information as well as the manpower to post frequently and speedily. And despite best intentions, many groups like this can be more at risk to spread misinformation than accurate information. Groups like Anonymous also pose political threats to independent journalism due to their unorthodox and often illegal methods behind information gathering. The record may show that there is a fine line between independent journalism and information broking.