Well, I'm not sure what you're calling "alternate" sources.
I certainly agree that information often gets overlooked by the secular media,
But that surely doesn't mean that Catholics are "in the dark" about current situations where the faithful are persecuted,
There's an extremely large news network delivering such information that's of interest to Catholics worldwide...
Two that are available on the Web are CWNews and EWTNews
For some reason I never cared for Mother Angelica much (guess my sterotypes of Carmelites hiding away and praying all the time does her a disservice) so I steer clear of EWTN.
I know they are pretty faithful to Catholic teaching and I would check on them more but they hosted one of the seers from Medjugorje and I think that was a bad move and destroyed some of their credibility in my eyes.
Other than that and a badly answered question about charismatic business, they seem pretty square with what I understand the church teaches.
I don't have any news source I can trust 100%. And the Vatican let me down badly when it didn't step in and stick up for the two bishops of Medjugorje. I just don't understand why they obfuscate so much. I don't want to think bad things about the vatican, but my perception is that as long as the people keep coming, the vatican doesn't really care what they believe and practice around the world. Sometimes I think they prefer ignorant sheep because they are easier to manage.
Too many things have upset me. I have been praying for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth for years. If truth means I have to read tome after tome, religion has become too complicated for me. I like things simple and straightforward. That's how Christianity was in the beginning and I wish it were that way now. It could be, but it isn't.