In the Netherlands, just like in Sweden and many other European countries you more or less need to balance the left-leaning main stream media opinion with some

In the Netherlands, just like in Sweden and many other European countries you more or less need to balance the left-leaning main stream media opinion with some of the alternative channels - Geenstijl in the Netherlands and Nyheter Idag in Sweden to name a few - to get something which resembles the truth. I generally find you can get a good grasp of the political balance of main stream media in a country by looking at whether that country has a thriving alternative news scene. If it does, the media tends to be tilted in one direction, if it doesn't the media is either more balanced or the country oppresses alternative media sources. In that case those alternative sources tend to sprout outside of the country, e.g. Epoch Times vs the PRC. I also suspect the term 'alternative news sources' is ripe for overhaul, especially in those countries where these sources play a large role - e.g. Sweden. This is already happening in a way there, the division goes more towards whether a news organisation underwrites the ethical guidelines for news reporting ('pressetiska regler' in Swedish) or not. Another rather important division in Sweden is that between organisations which get monetary support from the state and those which do not, either because they do not want to be encumbered (e.g. "Nyheter Idag") or because they do not follow the ethical guidelines (many others).