This could be the result of resources deployed (MSM have larger staffs), but we suspect it reflects alt media's audience strategy based on cultivating belonging rather than provision of facts. Read more with your free e-prints above, while they last!

We find that alternative media (in this study, Breitbart, Newsmax, Daily Kos, and HuffPo) rely less on evidence and more on assertions than MSM. Source count in right-wing media is particularly low. And when alt media do provide sources, they are more distant from them.

Let the lurking begin