From the birth of The Alternative UK in 2017 it was clear we needed a Daily Alternative blog reporting on the new system arising. Now, five years later we are collaborating with a number of other communications systems and media outlets to evolve that service to one that furthers its reach but also draws upon a wider set of resources.

Our goal is to design a system that creates a virtuous loop between reporting on innovation and breakthroughs, and the uploading of information from organisers and activators all over the world. A subscriber should be able to take action from everything they read. However action can take many forms, from having a conversation, making news or developing new narratives (see below)

For many people transformation will be led by the conversations they are able to have with others - particularly from outside their own friendship circle. During the COVID epidemic, the Zoom room became the location of a lot of learning, often bringing people from different corners of the globe together, sharing common experiences. For many, a conversation will be enough to shift the mind-set from despair to hope. 

Within this alternative media system, cities, or bioregions might want their own news outlets to help them reflect back the progress they are making and invite participants to contribute. The task of the system will be to connect these together and generate headlines that become relevant to everyone. To some extent, this is already happening and shared in the Weekly Alternative.

Core to the success of this new system is the forging of new narratives - making sense out of previously disconnected events or telling a new story of human and social potential. New stories can arise from the news, but also from theatre, music, sport - anywhere that people gather to make meaning. Maybe the most powerful stories are those that arise spontaneously from people whose voices are rarely heard.

• Switch your news source to the Daily Alternative and subscribe to the weekly newsletter

• Take part in the conversation (eg. on The Alternative Discord (available to co-creators))

• Offer news blogs from your corner of Planet A (mail here)

• If you are a journalist, consider writing for us (mail here)

• If you are a news provider, consider collaborating with us (mail here)