Definition of independent for the purposes of this question: source is not owned by a for-profit corporation, is not financially backed by any billionaire (either directly or via foundation or nonprofit organization) and is not financed by any national government (even if run without oversight).

It can have any perceived bias or political leaning.

Edit: Just to add it has to be written in English.

  • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    NPR - National Public Radio. It’s the closest you’re gonna get for unbiased independent news. It leans left but seriously, you’re not gonna find better.

      • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        27 days ago

        No it’s not. That’s blatantly false. Stop fear mongering. Also barely any funding for NPR news proper comes from the federal government. It’s like 1%.

        • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          27 days ago

          Its established by an act of congress. republicans have all 3 branches of government. NPR is perceived to have a left leaning bias. republicans have repeatedly wanted to dismandle public institutions like education. trump want to dissole the department of education. What makes you think they wont just dissolve NPR? You have too much faith in government.

          • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            27 days ago

            Did you not read the part where I said that only 1% of their funding comes from the federal government?

            Also republicans won all 3 branches back in 2016 and threatened the same bullshit, but never followed through. I assume you read the clickbait news headline about marjory greene being quoted railing on NPR from a day or two ago? I wouldn’t put too much stock into that.

            • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              27 days ago

              Oh they’re not cutting the funding. They are undoing the act of congress that first established NPR.

              Also the 2nd term is not like the first term. You see how his cabinet picks got crazier? I mean, a pedophile for AG and a science denier for FDA?

              This isn’t like the first term, the guardrails are off.

              • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                27 days ago

                Idk what to say. I’m also scared. But saying they’re losing funding January 20th isn’t true. As of now they aren’t. And I don’t think they will. I hope I’m right.

  • AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    I like propublica and democracy now, but when you start talking about foundations, it’s hard to know, they’re basically all funded at least at some point by a billionaire.

    That’s kind of the thing that happens at least in the US, you either are big enough that some foundation gives you money, cause you actually need a lot of it to exist here, or you are so small that you can’t cover the kinds of stories the other guys can.

    This system is designed such that journalism not ruined by the need to be profitable is relegated to the whims of patrons, much like art in feudal Europe.

    • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      27 days ago

      This is something else made so much worse by wealth inequality. The very wealthy have a vastly outsized influence on every aspect of the world. Being a billionaire, no matter how well-intentioned, is inherently a negative for humanity.

    • BertramDitore@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      27 days ago

      I came here to promote those two outlets as well. Democracy Now and ProPublica are two of the only sources I have nearly absolute trust in. I still consume them critically, but I trust their work because they’ve been doing consistently high quality journalism for years. They’ve never let me down, so I throw them a few bucks whenever I can afford to. It’s probably not a coincidence that they both do more of the muckraking type of journalism than anyone else these days. When I think of ‘traditional’ hard-hitting journalism, these are the two I think of.

  • YoFrodo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    Ground news is an aggregator for news sources but it tries to show the bias of the news orgs whose stories it shows. This tool may help you find the independent sources you seek while also informing you of their potential bias and ownership

  • Carrolade@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    Mother Jones is run by a nonprofit funded by reader donations. I’m sure some billionaires probably donate to it, but so do others.

  • Mickey7@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    I’ve read some good balanced stuff on “substack”. But you have to pay for most of their content. I found a few real journalists there that will allow you to read some of their stuff no charge

  • Count042@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    27 days ago

    The Lever.

    Drop Site News.

    Don’t follow news sources. Follow journalists.

    • BrikoX@lemmy.zipOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      27 days ago

      Most journalists are still sitting on Twitter or those that got kick out from Twitter are on Nazi infested Substack.

      • Count042@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        26 days ago

        I didn’t mean follow as in Twitter. I meant follow as in pay attention to them and the stories they work on.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    26 days ago

    Try the BBC. Or the English channels of DW (Deutsche Welle).

    Keep in mind that shutting down independent or opposing media is a top priority for any dictator. Local sources will die off quickly.