Need FREE alternative evening news

August 17, 2018 11:48 AM

Can someone help w/ a copycat-of-TV streamcast or YouTube channel?

I'd like to WATCH something for 15-25 minutes like I used to on network TV, only this time I want something more to the right of the usual suspects (CBS, ABC, CNN, etc.), yet also more centrist than Fox. Talking about a nightly roundup, all the comforts of the couch: global, U.S., disasters we need to hear about, all that, but more independent. Newish, alt-tech, whatever. I didn't say alt-right, no I did not, or I don't recall having said such a thing... :) Alternative media. All that plus I don't have cable, just the Net. Thank you for your time.

posted by noelpratt2nd to Computers & Internet (17 answers total)

You can watch CBC's The National on YouTube.. Even works in the US.
posted by GuyZero at 11:58 AM on August 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

For a couple of years I have been enjoying the English live stream of France 24. It is actually surprisingly centrist, and even occasionally rightist, albeit with a European focus. (I'm reminded of Dick Strawbridge's statement that "All Frenchmen are anarchists at heart.") There are many more tech stories than US networks, and many many more environment and science stories. It's also one of the few places I can get really good and current stories about Africa. It is also nice for me to see things from a perspective wholly and healthily outside of the US focus of most domestic news services. That said, it is French, and occasionally crazy, which is also fun.
posted by seasparrow at 12:01 PM on August 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Hm, I don't want anything but one based here in the U.S.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 12:27 PM on August 17, 2018

Sorry but I think what you might be looking for was the magical Al Jazeera US which closed down a few years ago, although it still might have been too left for your tastes. I suggest streaming their other English language outlets to see if they would be helpful though.
posted by yueliang at 12:44 PM on August 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Well the CBC is better IMO but the CBS Evening News seems to post full episodes online - I was able to watch it without any registration.
posted by GuyZero at 12:58 PM on August 17, 2018

Response by poster: I've tried searching, maybe what I want doesn't exist. But it seems so obvious -- give ppl the same format but not so feeding into or stemming from the lamestream or "legacy" media.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:04 PM on August 17, 2018

Response by poster: This sounded like the right idea but it's cable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_America_News_Network
They snip some stuff into YouTube clips but I want all the main news in a sitting like when I used to watch NBC Nightly News, which I will not touch these days. There are many website/pages/blogs, like Drudge, etc., but I need a daily/nightly streaming viewing experience to balance all the reading.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:10 PM on August 17, 2018

Response by poster: I didn't say conservative and I said I want to WATCH something.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:24 PM on August 17, 2018

Response by poster: sorry, it's just that I spent some time and found nothing there. I've searched google...
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:29 PM on August 17, 2018

Mod note: Heya, asker, if you need to add one or two clarifying comments that’s fine but I need you to not keep peppering the thread with replies. State clearly what you’re looking for and then just let folks answer.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:30 PM on August 17, 2018

Best answer: Pluto TV has various news options you can vet. There's a roku channel.
posted by Duffington at 3:12 PM on August 17, 2018

You can also get the PBS Roku channel. That's independent, isn't it?
posted by yueliang at 3:57 PM on August 17, 2018

If you have Plex or Roku there's some good stuff going on there.

One America is *quite* right wing, fwiw.
posted by getawaysticks at 4:25 PM on August 17, 2018

PBS newshour is , not surprisingly, an hour of tv news and goes live at 7 eastern on weeknights on their youtube channel and their website , as well as on PBS's streaming service. Truthfully i can't tell what centrist, right, and left even mean anymore without knowing the person using the term .. but as one who watches the newshour most days (or listens, they have full episode audio published as a podcast as well) and as someone who can remember days of top three networks nightly news ala the 90s, I think it is about like that used to be. It does not seem terribly biased to me and i think the news hour people are journalists with a lot of integrity. But, maybe you thought peter jennings or dan rather were very biased in which case .. maybe you'll think this is biased? Lol - aka your mileage may vary : )
posted by elgee at 4:28 PM on August 17, 2018

Response by poster: Should have mentioned, this would be on a Windows laptop. Trying Pluto now...
posted by noelpratt2nd at 5:21 PM on August 17, 2018

I've always thought that the first 15 - 20 minutes of Democracy Now! to be a good recap of the days events. After that, they tend to dig deeper on a few pressing issues.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 5:59 AM on August 18, 2018

I wanted to second the recommendation for the CBS evening news, available online. It reads very "neutral"/centrist to me in terms of politics, which only make up a small percentage of the coverage anyway.
posted by gudrun at 8:34 AM on August 19, 2018