On October 10, 2014, a meeting of independent, alternative media outfits and progressive institutions and individuals gave birth to Altermidya – People’s Alternative Media Network. The aim was to unify alternative newsrooms scattered throughout the country and strengthen independent reporting on the plight of the Filipino people from the grassroots perspective.
A decade later, through many trials, we in the Altermidya remain. We continue to tell the people’s stories. We persist despite relentless redtagging, surveillance, website blockings, trumped-up charges, and arrests. And we owe our existence to the Filipino people.
The people have always been at the core of Altermidya. Amid the challenges, it is the stories, struggles, and victories of the toiling workers, farmers, women, youth, indigenous people, and all marginalized sectors that we persist for.
The alternative media is at the heart of the Philippine press history. From the nationalist publications of the Katipuneros that helped build the Filipino consciousness for a revolutionary war against Spanish colonialism to the mosquito press that fought the Marcos dictatorship until its downfall, the alternative media has stood at the forefront of brave reporting aimed at promoting social change. Altermidya – People’s Alternative Media Network is determined to fulfill this historic role of truth-telling in service of the nation and people.
