Content Analysis of UK Alternative Media Articles and Tweets, 2015-2018

The methodology used to create this data collection was content analysis. The studied population was left-wing and right-wing alternative media. The sampling procedure used was the most influential alternative media at the time (measured by sites that have the most shared articles on social media). For left-wing sites, the sample included The Canary, The Skwawkbox, Evolve Politics, Another Angry Voice and Novara Media, and for right-wing sites, Guido Fawkes, Breitbart London, Westmonster and The Conservative Woman. One first dataset examined 3452 items, and quantified the degree and nature of critique towards mainstream media. The second dataset examined 14,807 Tweets from the main Twitter accounts of alternative media sites. We examined three-week sample periods each year between 2015 and 2018 (6–25 October 2015; 9–29 October 2016; 30 April–7 June 2017; and 8–28 October 2018.). The first dataset was examined in three ways. Part 1 file- This contains content analysis data on the publication date, headline and article author, along with if content opinion- or fact-driven content, the topic, if it was about policy coverage, the party political focus and sentiment. Part 2 file - this relates to different types of sources which could be multiple within one article Part 3 file - this relates to the overall topic tone and tone of article. MSM critique file - This file contains content analysis data on the degree to which mainstream media was part of routine coverage. Four areas were examined: The media entity, The media organisation, the sentiment and finally criticism or praise type. Twitter file - tis relates to Twitter analysis. We examined the purpose of tweets, political reference and sentiment, and media reference and sentiment.

After the British public voted to leave the EU, Donald Trump's Presidential victory and Jeremy Corbyn's rising support during the 2017 UK election campaign, the mainstream media (MSM) were criticised for not anticipating these events. They were accused of not reflecting or understanding many people's alienation from and anger with the mainstream media and political establishment. On both sides of the political spectrum, the acronym MSM has become a widely used pejorative term to characterise a broad range of legacy media that represents the establishment, protecting the interests of elites and perpetuating the political status quo. It is in this context that many voters went beyond the during the 2017 UK general election campaign and turned to what have been labelled alt-left media sites, where more pro-Labour and anti-MSM messages were being conveyed. This included sites such as The Canary, Evolve Politics, Wings over Scotland, Novara Media, Skwawkbox and Another Angry Voice. They became a prominent part of the campaign because they reached voters across many social media platforms, particularly Facebook, and bypassed the reliance on MSM for news. The aim of this research project was to understand the content of both left- and right-wing alternative online political media, such as Westmonster, Breitbart UK, Conservative Woman and Guido Fawkes. We will examine the content alternative media by carrying out a comprehensive analysis of selected sites and their use of twitter between 2017 and 2021.