Many alternative media outlets have common purposes of empowering the local public by providing access to communication and voice for local citizens. Buckingham’s (2003) concepts of alternative media education as “aform of preparation” rather than “a form of protection” from the mass media is central in this discussion about whether or not learning rises to an offensive level rather than remaining defensive. Buckingham advocates a democratic integration of learning and a sense of activism in citizen use of alternative media. David Croteau and William Hoynes (2001) add that democracy cannot exist without a media system that projects diversity and that “reflects the range of creative visions and ideas that constitute a society’s vibrant culture” (p. 5). These creative visions and ideas arise within a social, interactive teaching-learning praxis in the politicallyoriented cultures of civil society.