rabble.ca BETA site
rabble.ca has a beta site that is about to be finalized. Check here for details
rabble is one of Canada’s leading independent news and media information sites and if you don’t follow their content, you may want to. They’ve drawn in talent from across the country (and occasionally, the globe) and their authors and journalists have an exceptional reputation.
rabble is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to independent, progressive media in Canada and we need more – a lot more – sites like it. There are several publications and independent magazines sites like This , Briarpatch and The Tyee and the list is growing.
If you have a few favourite independent media sites, please list them in the comments. I’d like to start helping people find a complete inventory of these publishers so that we can start putting together a loose ‘network’.
In the interim, here are the details from their press release:
rabble.ca raises a ruckus and launches its new site today
News site also announces partnership with the Council of Canadians, United Steelworkers, and Douglas Coldwell Foundation
TORONTO, Oct. 23 /CNW/ – rabble.ca, Canada’s most widely read independent news media site, introduces three new strategic partnerships today and launches its newly designed website: you can find it at beta.rabble.ca.
"We’re very proud to be introducing new community partnerships together with this relaunch," said rabble.ca publisher, Kim Elliott. "In these challenging economic and political times, we are very pleased to introduce a new strategic partnership with Canada’s most influential activist-based organization, the Council of Canadians."
"rabble is a crucial resource for achieving media democracy in Canada in this era of increasing corporate media centralization," says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians and outspoken advocate for media democracy. "That’s why the Council of Canadians supports rabble."
Also announced today are new partnerships with the Douglas Coldwell Foundation, partner on the soon to be released on-line Activist Toolkit, as well as with the United Steelworkers, who join rabble today as the sponsor of rabbletv – rabble’s cutting edge new media component featuring live and pre-recorded online video.
rabble.ca’s new website, which can be viewed at beta.rabble.ca, offers visitors an opportunity to provide feedback on the newly redesigned website, and introduces state of the art interactive features including the live streaming capacity of rabbletv, Canada’s largest progressive podcast network, and other interactive and sharing tools.
The new website is built on an open-source platform. "rabble.ca is happy to contribute back to the open source community it has been built upon," explained Elliott. "rabble.ca developers have released modules back to the drupal community for other organizations to make use of and to promote democratic media tools."
Building on their acclaimed and popular election blog, rabble will also be introducing regular blogs on the website. "With the election blog, for the first time, I felt like progressives in Canada had a real daily alternative to mainstream media analysis," explained Derrick O’Keefe, editor of rabble.ca.
"We intend to build on that and make rabble the ‘go to’ place for common sense analysis devoid of corporate media spin in this time of economic crisis and minority government."
rabble.ca chose to relaunch on Media Democracy Day, a day founded to challenge media concentration in Canada and to recognize the power of alternative media. Media Democracy Day activities take place throughout the day today at the University of Toronto, and conclude this evening with a roundtable debrief on the federal election, featuring Maude Barlow, Murray Dobbin, Jessica Yee, Anne Lagac?-Dowson and Duncan Cameron, and a celebration with LAL, Mraya (with Maryem Tollar) and Lorraine Segato at the Steamwhistle Brewery in Toronto Ontario.