RINF Alternative News is a daily updated source for under-reported news and current events. Heavy focus is placed on human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 issues and political dissent

Political dissent

Political dissent refers to any expression designed to convey dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Such expression may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence. Historically, repressive governments have sought to punish...

.

History

Created in 2004, RINF Alternative News

Alternative media

Alternative media are media which provide alternative information to the mainstream media in a given context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or government-owned...

 exclusively presented rare video footage which mainly included anti-war

Anti-war

An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...

 rallies, protests and demonstrations.

Site founder, Mick Meaney, a British web developer

Web development

Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet or an intranet . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development...

, aimed to give activists an additional channel to promote a range of issues via the site by focusing on uniting groups through their common aims and synergies. Among the groups supported by the site, the Stop the War Coalition

Stop the War Coalition

The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....

, the NO2ID

NO2ID

NO2ID, the public campaign, was formed in 2004 to campaign against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards and the associated National Identity Register, which it believes has negative implications for privacy, civil liberties and personal safety.NO2ID is entirely independent...

 campaign and various climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

 groups were, and still are, heavily promoted.

Another aim of the site was to allow visitors to interact with famed authors, film makers and reporters. These included interactive interviews and monologues with best selling author, Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author, whose works include The Men Who Stare At Goats. His journalism and columns have appeared in British publications including The Guardian newspaper, City Life and Time Out magazine...

, peace activist

Peace activist

This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...

 Brian Haw

Brian Haw

Brian William Haw was an English protester and peace campaigner who lived for almost ten years in a camp in London's Parliament Square from 2001, in a protest against UK and US foreign policy...

, BBC reporter Martin Bell

Martin Bell

Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...

 as well as other personalities.

With the advent of video sharing

Video sharing

Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...

 web sites, RINF Alternative News turned its attention towards journalists and bloggers who were often ignored by the corporate media

Corporate media

"Corporate media" is a term which refers to a system of mass media production, distribution, ownership, and funding which is dominated by corporations and their CEOs....

, usually from war torn regions and countries with strict human rights records.

Open Publishing

In late 2008 RINF Alternative News officially became an 'Open Publishing' web site, allowing whistleblowers, activists and members of the public to create content anonymously.

External links

• RINF Alternative News
• New Host Launches for Dissident Sites – The Web Host Industry Review
• Interview with RINF founder, Mick Meaney