Looks like some ex-Boston Phoenix staffers have been busy: This week, they launched the first issue of The Media, an ad-free, online-only alternative weekly. The layout is pretty old-school, which makes it feel kind of refreshingly new-school. You should read The Media's manifesto, which is titled "Fvck the Media." Like all good manifestoes, it's made up of some exciting stuff:

When I began to consider maybe starting something new, I thought hard about the specific voids left by the decline of alt-weekly journalism as well as pre-existing online publications. Some feel that the role of alt-weeklies is now carried out by blogs, but it's not. There is a specific rhythm to putting out a weekly, a thoughtful pace that the speed of the Internet diminishes.

It was a great privilege to be a part of the last generation working in the newsroom of one of the country's best alt weeklies. There was something special about how the Phoenix connected the dots between arts and music and alternative perspectives on news, politics, and activism. Recently on her Tumblr, Claire Boucher a/k/a Grimes wrote what many called a "feminist manifesto" (though it was more a personal essay about resisting oppressive behavior that is often normalized in music). "I don't want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living," she wrote, and many of her words resonate in media just as much as music. But what really struck me came eight grafs down: "I'm sad that it's uncool or offensive to talk about environmental or human rights issues."

In the music world it's too often deemed cliché, naïve, idealistic, or straight-up uncool to talk about politics, news, activism, or environmental and human rights issues. The Phoenix was a breath of fresh air from that; a place that approached music and film with the same sort of critical contextualization it did news and politics. The alternative media world is lacking new publications like this, where folks can go for the experimental music coverage and stay for pieces on the climate crisis and feminism and weed and Occupy. This is the sort of publication I hope The Media will be.

This is exciting stuff. I wish them well, and I'll be keeping a close eye on how the experiment progresses. You can follow The Media on Twitter.

(Via Altweeklies.com.)