Rebel Tech AllianceNews alternatives
Alternatives to: Google News, MSN, Yahoo News etc
Any big tech news aggregator will be tracking and profiling what you read. And you're at the mercy of their algorithms feeding you content you may not want to see, for reasons kept to themselves.
The best way to get news and avoid the Surveillance Business Model is choose services with one or more of the following characteristics:
- RSS
- Open Source
- Decentralised
- Non-profit
- Minimum Left/Right bias
- Fact checking
- Direct subscription
RSS? Seriously?
Seriously. It might be an old technlogy but it's made a comeback in light of big tech's privacy violations. RSS is a direct pull of the info with no tracking. Collecting feeds from sources you're interested in is a great way to stay informed with zero tracking. Most sites have an RSS feed. Find the URL for it and then put that into your RSS reader.
| App name | Tech used | Open Source | Structure; Business model | Features | Bias | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feeder | RSS reader | Yes | FOSS; donations | Android only, import/export | n/a | Feeder (Play store) |
| Newsblur | RSS reader | No | Private company; Freemium | Cross-platform; trains on your taste; good privacy policy | n/a | Newsblur.com |
| Ghost | Newsletter, blog, RSS, ActivityPub | Yes | Non-profit; Direct subscriptions | Directly support good journalism e.g. 404 Media, The Citizens | n/a | Ghost.org |
| Bluesky | ATproto | Yes | Public Benefit Corporation; Free | Large number of journalists to follow; Use custom feeds | n/a | Bsky.app |
| ActivityPub | No | Private company; Ads (can opt out) and publisher partnerships | Follow ActivityPub accounts; Personal magazine; Avoid big tech algorithms | n/a | Flipboard.com | |
| Substack | Newsletter, blog, RSS | No | Private company; Direct subscriptions | Good discovery; Popular with indie journalists | n/a | Substack.com |
| Financial Times | app/site | No | Private company; Direct subscription | High level of integrity; | No - impartial | FT.com |
| BBC | app/site | No | Public corporation; Direct subscription (licence fee) | Wide variety of content; fact checking | Minimal, slightly left-leaning | BBC.co.uk |
| Associated Press | site | No | Non-profit; Free / Donations; Publisher partnerships | High level of integrity; large newsroom | No - impartial | APnews.com |
| Reuters | site | No | Public corporation; Direct subscription | Multi-award winning | Minimal | Reuters.com |
| The Economist | app/site | No | Public corporation; Direct subscription | Constitution precludes any majority shareholder; Editors appointed by trustees | Minimal | Economist.com |
RTA's choice
We use a combination of these and more. We're particularly fond of RSS as it is open source and 100% private. And Ghost, due to being the winning combination of non-profit and open source. Two excellent journalism sites powered by Ghost are 404 Media and The Citizens (who also have an amazing podcast).