[jgreen10]

When I'm in Russia, I find the state-controlled media surprisingly critical of government policy and very outward looking. They are clearly ignoring the elephant in the room: the country being an ungovernable pool of corruption that can only be kept together by instilling nationalism and foreign threats and an authoritarian leader, but then again, it's not like US media are really asking critical questions. With or without free press, no one wants to hear that they're in a mess. It's much nicer to think that everything is good, but the evil-doers are trying to ruin it.

[argonaut]

The US media as a whole may not be asking critical questions, but that's not the point of free press. The fact is that the US media is free to ask critical questions, and therefore some, though not all, of the media ask critical questions.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[chrischen]

Free to still allows another way to allow the powerful to control and manipulate.

In order to truly be a free system the system has to be fair as well, which means more income equality in addition to a free press system.

If money controls the "free" press and money distribution is heavily skewed, then it's not really a free press. This is how the US system works.

[digi_owl]

Bingo. I keep seeing the US chatter being about boo scary government, but then turn right round and supplicate themselves to the big US brands as some kind of deities of freedom.

fuck that shit. Every large org is a problem, as it will develop a internal culture and world view.

when you have corporations existing in the world that has bigger revenue streams than nations, it should bring pause for thought.

[argonaut]

No it doesn't have to. Stop moving the goalposts. The US has a free press, and under no definition does free necessarily require fair. It would be better if it had a fair press, but it is not necessary for freedom.

You're again letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.