Without a free and independent press, money and corruption will continue to run supreme and dictate policy. By suppressing the voices of the people that are not in the interest of those who own the mass media outlets there can be no democracy. Independent journalism publications need to be brought back from the dead. Growing up I trusted these organizations, unencumbered by government or corporate intervention. I believed that they were fighting against abuses of political and corporate power. Fighting for the people.
Now, they are gone and we are left to our own devices.
For many years the influence of the independent press was undeniable. Everyday investigative journalists were exposing malfeasance in the world. When print journalism failed to transition online, however, many important newspapers folded. Online startups filled the void, but then major media executives realized they had to shift their budgets to the Internet. And soon, online independent media outlets were either bought out, went corporate, or failed to stay afloat.
The lack of independent reporting has allowed governments and corporations to shape our societies without any repercussions. With no accountability, movements have been manipulated, civil rights have been violated, potential leaders have been silenced, scientists slandered, and public healthcare gutted.
from Wells’ Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, 1892
That brings us to today and the question remains: How do we hold power accountable and expose corruption?
The answer is a collective of independent journalists. The abuse of the people must stop. That is the message coming from millions around the globe and why we, a group of young professional journalists, have come together to launch The Boycott Times.
Starting an independent publication at a moment of mass turmoil and unrest is critical to raising voices. It is also important to keep a record of the global resistance fighting for a future where no one has to live in violence or oppression. For years, we’ve heard the promises of an impending cataclysmic shift. Politicians sold slogans; police departments were to be held accountable, governments restructured, banks regulated, and transnational corporations kept in check. But nothing changed and it is time for critical independent journalists to reemerge and confront those in power.
New independent publications are typically discredited as doing “advocacy journalism,” meaning they are “non-objective.” Yet, it is impossible for any institution or any one person to be truly objective. A journalist brings their life experience to every story. Conglomerates inject their owners’ worldviews into the culture of their publications.
Objectivity has been weaponized by major media companies to control the narrative and discredit independent journalism outfits that attempt to uncover what has been concealed.
The Boycott Times will report on the local challenges of communities around the world, investigate solutions, and support organizations addressing those issues. In doing so, we will challenge the inhumane policies that have led to nearly half of humanity living in poverty. This is our objectivity defined.
Welcome to The Boycott Times.
Mordecai Lyon
Editor in ChiefLyon is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and a contributor at The Undefeated & Boston Review . As a researcher he contributed to the publication of Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It by Wendell Potter and Nick Pennimen. Lyon spends his time between New York City and Cambridge, MA. Read Lyon's Boston Review interview with Cornel West here and his interview with Lorgía Garcia-Peña here.