The trajectory of terms such as press, communication and alternative journalism has been the object of studies that integrate a network of meanings that composes a narrative about that can be retraced in discursive analysis. This article summarizes the research carried out to understand how concepts, meanings and narratives are formed in academic research on this subject, based on a survey of theses and dissertations in Ibict digital library. The analysis shows that the civil-military dictatorship (1964/1985) is a milestone for the establishment of this narrative, but the continuity of this imaginary is little explored after that period. The interest in an alternative communication of broader scope, related to popular communication, emerges