10 Most Influential People in the Alternative Media (2011)

Many readers will expect to see Matt Drudge or Arianna Huffington on this list. Although they both indeed have leading Internet news websites that cover some fringe stories and report on systematic injustices more so than the mainstream media, they primarily aggregate mainline news. Therefore, they are excluded from our “alternative media” label.

The criteria we’ve chosen to base these rankings of the most influential alternative media figures are the following;

people that have the courage to seek the truth no matter where the information leads them;
those with the courage to question 9/11;
those who don’t buy into the false left-right political paradigm;
those who are grounded in peace and liberty;
those with the communication skills and platform to affect real change.

Significantly, each of the people who made our list is clearly driven by unyielding passion. Despite some natural disagreements, they each provide a unique bridge to forbidden knowledge and they all deserve high praise for their efforts and commitment to inform the public. Sincerely, it is very encouraging to have so many talented voices leading the stampede for truth, liberty, justice, and peace.

With so many people doing great work in the real alternative media, we are sure that some deserving reporters will be left off the list. Although Activist Post has forged relationships with some of the people on this list, we’ve tried to remain as non-biased as possible in our observations. At the end, we’ve also included a list of those who deserve honorable mention for their tireless work and talent providing the truth.

10. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Paul Craig Roberts is one of the most respected columnists in the alternative media. His syndicated articles can be seen on many leading alternative news websites including Lew Rockwell, Infowars, Counterpunch, InformationClearingHouse and countless others. Roberts scores huge points in the credibility department having been the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury under Reagan, and the editor of the Wall Street Journal — among a long list of other accolades. His research is impeccable and his vision of how the world really operates is second to none. He knows why and when the global chess pieces are moving, and has the incredible talent to communicate difficult concepts to the general public. He has written several books including The Tyranny of Good Intentions, and How the Economy was Lost. His many interviews can be seen on Russia Today and Prison Planet TV. Roberts is also a recent contributor to Gerald Celente’s esteemed Trends Journal. There is no one better at reporting the reality of geo-political events and the workings of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.

9. Gary Franchi: Franchi is a longtime researcher and liberty activist. His essays and reports have been published all over the Internet and in the book Songs of Freedom: Tales From the Revolution. He’s also the producer of several documentaries like Camp FEMA and Don’t Tread on Me. Because of his tenacious work, he now has one of the best alternative media platforms on the Internet. His liberty social network, RTR.org (Restore the Republic) has over 32,000 members and is growing quickly. The quality of his Reality Report newscasts rival the multi-million dollar productions at any cable news outfit — except he reports TRUTH news. Franchi does an excellent job aggregating the most important stories in the alternative news and presenting them in a concise and visually appealing newscast. We’ve found each of Franchi’s recent Reality Reports to be must-see TV, and only expect this up-and-comer’s influence to continue to grow.

8. Adam Kokesh: Kokesh is a former Iraq war veteran turned peace activist, a former Libertarian congressional candidate, and the current host of Russia Today’s Adam Vs. The Man nightly cable TV show. He recently gained recognition when he was brutally arrested for silently dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial with other activists. The video of the alarming arrest went absolutely viral and surely brought many new viewers to his TV show and to the truth movement. Kokesh is well-informed, well-spoken, committed to individual liberty and peace, and has the legitimacy of having served his country in combat. Kokesh recently received high praise from a fellow journalist who details his appeal here. Watch for Kokesh’s influence to grow as more people become aware that a genuine truther has an entertaining and informative TV show. The establishment is in big trouble with the likes of Kokesh on the airwaves.

7. Stefan Molyneux: Stefan Molyneux may be perhaps the most eloquent “red pill” in the alternative media. A self-described philosopher, Molyneux has a strong knowledge of history and a core compass reading of freedom and non-violence. He hosts a popular radio broadcast on his FreedomainRadio; his Youtube uploads have been viewed over 6 million times on his channel alone, and his site claims over 25 million downloads making his ideas the “largest and most popular philosophical conversation in the world.” His articles can be seen on mega-sites like Lew Rockwell and others; he has published several books on the philosophy of liberty and non-violence (many of which are offered FREE from his site) and how they apply in today’s world, and he is a frequent guest on RT’s Adam Vs. The Man and the Keiser Report. Despite his overwhelming knowledge of the corrupt system, Molyneux always remains optimistic in his presentation, which is quite refreshing among all the doom-and-gloom. Molyneux remains authentic in that he survives solely from donations and book sales —so please support his efforts. We expect Molyneux to end up as one of the most important voices of our time.

6. Max Keiser: Max Keiser is perhaps the fastest rising star in the alternative media. He is a literal boy genius having invented the virtual specialist technology / prediction markets, Hollywood Stock Exchange, Karmabanque, and PirateMyFilm. His economic and geo-political analysis has appeared on the BBC, in documentary movies, and on sites like Huffington Post and Zero Hedge. Traffic on his personal website, MaxKeiser.com, has nearly doubled since April according to Alexa. He is currently the host of the must-see Keiser Report on Russia Today in addition to several other projects. He is arguably the most powerful anti-bankster voice in the world, openly and relentlessly referring to them appropriately as “terrorists and rapists” and having helped drive silver purchases to new heights with his viral “Crash the Bankers” campaign. He is also emerging as a leading anti-austerity voice for global citizens, having visited and spoken to growing protest groups in Ireland, Egypt, and soon Greece. He has an uncanny ability to boil down complicated economic “problems” for easy consumption by the general public. In short, Max Keiser has deservedly become the most influential voice of the “Resistance” to bankster tyranny.

5. David Icke: David Icke is most appropriately called a researcher and presenter of knowledge. In addition to his voluminous writing of in-depth books, his main platform is his all-day stage performance that still leave audiences wanting more. These performances are regularly sold out in large venues across the planet. Significantly, he is the only presenter in the alternative media arena to consistently draw crowds in the thousands to hear him speak. His research goes “beyond the cutting edge” of the alternative news and his popular website has become a valuable news aggregator. Besides brilliantly dissecting the “5 sense reality”, as he calls it, Icke also dives head first down the rabbit hole and provides historical evidence of some very bizarre and thought-provoking phenomena. In turn, this makes him one of the most courageous and interesting figures of our time. David Icke may be one of the most dangerous people to the establishment, because he has the ability to convince organizational leadership masters of their immense power to affect positive change.

4. Jeff Rense: Jeff Rense has built a massive audience of those seeking the truth inside and outside of the Matrix. His website, Rense.com, has been by far the best news aggregator covering the Gulf oil disaster and the current Fukushima nuclear meltdown. His website is the 2101st most-viewed in the United States on Alexa — a powerful ranking indeed. Agree with him or not, Rense deserves credit for venturing down the rabbit hole of reality which brings a unique perspective to alternative news. He is one of the only sources attempting to responsibly cover the metaphysical and extra-planetary nature of the Matrix. He is quietly building a strong radio presence with talented voices like Mike Rivero and Charlie McGrath being added to his network. Look for Rense’s influence to continue to escalate as we have not heard the end of the Fukushima nuclear holocaust of the Northern Hemisphere which he’s so brilliantly covering.

3. Lew Rockwell: Lew Rockwell is a liberty icon. Rockwell has immense credibility having served as Ron Paul’s chief of staff and his presidential campaign manager, as a scholar of Austrian School of economics, and as the chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. It’s telling how powerful Rockwell’s platform is when others on this list include being published at LewRockwell.com as a benchmark of their success. His website is visited by millions each month, his radio show contains high-brow intellectual discussions with other great minds, and his books The Left, The Right and The State and Speaking of Liberty are worth their weight in gold. As the 2012 presidential race approaches, look for Rockwell’s loud megaphone to propel Ron Paul’s message of peace, liberty and economic sanity to the masses. Rockwell brings much-needed legitimacy to controversial issues like ending the Fed, ending the wars, and bringing about a system of non-coercive Anarchy. He has indeed paved the way for many others, while also remaining a growing influence.

2. Mike Adams: Mike Adams, known as the “Health Ranger”, is a consumer health advocate and independent journalist. Mike Adams is young, authentic, well-spoken, and a savvy businessman. He is the founder and editor of the very popular website NaturalNews.com (ranked 1,184 overall in the U.S.) and NaturalNews.TV. His articles have been republished all over the Internet, and his radio show and short films are viewed by millions. Through his unyielding passion, he has built a team of respected contributors to his flagship news site which offer some of the best natural health and freedom news on the Web. He never ceases to improve his platform for his expanding audience and knows how to monetize his business with products he genuinely believes in. The sky is the limit for the Health Ranger’s influence in the alternative media.

1. Alex Jones: Love or hate his style, Alex Jones is the King of alternative news. His radio show reaches millions per day; his movies like Fall of the Republic and The Obama Deception have been seen by tens of millions the world over on Youtube and elsewhere; his website rankings for Infowars and PrisonPlanet are off the charts with many investigative articles frequently supported by Drudge, and many on his staff are nearly deserving of being in the top-10 in their own right. The quality of his production has improved every year and is easily the best in the alternative media. Jones gets the most informative expert guests who expose a wide variety of inconvenient truths. He is a pioneer in encouraging fans to make copies of his material and give them away for free to help awaken more minds. Anyone who follows Alex Jones knows that he is driven by intense passion for humanity and never stops working. It’s hard to believe that Jones is still only in his thirties, given his 15 years of dedicated reporting.

There is one person that is not on this list, but should be a major footnote on all of the above media figures, as his work has pioneered much of what is discussed in today’s alternative media: G. Edward Griffin. Griffin is widely considered one of the most brilliant researchers and writers of actual history. He exemplifies the notion of following the evidence no matter where it leads him. But he is so much more than that to the group above in terms of his philosophy of individual liberty and non-aggression. His book, The Creature From Jekyll Island is one of the most powerful indictments of the Federal Reserve and is still a bestseller. His many other books, websites at RealityZone.com and his foundation Freedom-Force.org, with movies like his recent documentary What in the World Are They Spraying are all ground-breaking in their own right. This is not meant to be a runner-up award, but more of a lifetime influence shout out to a true pioneer. We’re all indebted to Griffin’s hard work.

Honorable Mention
Many in this group are deserving of far more praise than this format allows, but we’d be remiss not to mention the following names. Here are some of the rising stars and the unsung heroes of the alternative media in no particular order:

Shepard Ambellas, Alex Thomas: True investigative reporters who share their knowledge at TheIntelHub.com They are fearless journalists who utilize the full range of the Internet to release their intel.
Cassandra Anderson: Writer and editor for MorphCity.com, as well as G. Edward Griffin’s news editor and research assistant. She is one of the leading experts on Agenda 21 and the globalist plan of collectivization.
James Corbett: Terrific analyst, researcher, writer, web TV presenter and founder of CorbettReport.com
Rady Ananda: Brilliant investigative journalist and editor for blogs Food Freedom and COTO Report whose work has been published across the Internet on all major alternative media news sites.
Doug Owen: Oracle Radio personality and producer and operator of BlacklistedNews.com
Global Research: Michel Chossudovsky, Andrew Gavin Marshall and staff brilliantly report on global events and have a fast-growing Internet presence.
Bob Tuskin: Terrific interviewer and fearless investigator who has worked extensively with The Intel Hub, and has his own radio show and website at BobTuskin.com
Bill Ryan: His website and forum at Project Avalon are terrific resources, as well as his interviews with alternative media personalities and government insiders.
George Noory: Huge Internet presence and the most-listened-to overnight radio show in America at Coast to Coast AM.
Alan Watt: Consummate researcher into the history of elite control, and frequent guest on the Alex Jones Show. His website and his own radio show can be found at Cutting Through The Matrix.
Jim Marrs: Author of many books on conspiracy truth, and one of the foremost experts on the JFK assassination. His work can be found at JimMarrs.com and has influenced many of the above.