Tracking the alternative media

Most of you are probably familiar with Utne Reader, the magazine that collects pieces from disparate, usually lesser-known sources and republishes them in theme issues. It's sort of a funky Reader's Digest for the 'alternative media.'

If you're like me, though, you may not be as well acquianted with Utne's Web site, billed as "a place in cyberspace where ideas and community intersect.''

The last time I checked out the online version of Utne, more than a year ago now, I wasn't terribly impressed. Its focused seemed to be on community chats, with little from the print magazine.

I'm happy to report there's much more to http://www.utne.com these days. You'll find good selections from the print version, plus more.

I'm particularly enamored with the Utne Daily at http://www.utne.com/daily/ As its name implies, it's a daily report on where to find interesting articles on the Web. The highlighted pieces usually wouldn't cross my radar screen, were it not for Utne.

A recent daily report focused on the protests over the World Trade Organization in Seattle. But rather than pointing readers to a rehash of the news you could find anywhere, it directed them to Christian Science Monitor article on the role the Web play in breaking stories and providing news on the WTO that wasn't as easy to get from the mainstream media.

Utne Daily also offers a handy e-mail update that summaries what's on its Web site. I've found it's a nice supplement to the daily update provided by Slate magazine at its Web site.

While you're surfing through Utne's site, be sure to click on the "media" and "alternative press awards." I found quite a few interesting reads there.

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