Organization, scholars, and activists work towards a democratic media, where access and distribution are open, and where all interested constituents create and receive media, through a variety of channels including: media advocacy and literacy, law and policy, and alternative media practices. Independent, radical, or committed media refer to uses of mediation technologies that occur outside corporate and conventional structures of finance, form, or function. This is media that are meant for personal or artistic expression, community building, political intervention, or education. YouTube at once is and is not alternative media.

"YouTube is as participatory as market research, and as democratic as public opinion polls," according to Jens Schroter. [cit]