I suspect we all learned the basics of reporting in school, and we all know the "just the facts, ma'am" stock reporter character from TV and film. News is supposed to tell us who, what where, when, why, and how in an unbiased, neutral fashion. However, yellow journalism and propaganda pervade the media today.
Here in the US, the first amendment to the United States Constitution is supposed to forbid the government from censoring the press, and has actually served fairly well as a cultural bulwark against intervention, but there are real cracks in that wall. What is even more sinister, though, is the more subtle power of the "Fourth Estate" as it presents itself to the public.
Even in the absence of intentional propaganda, there is an underlying bias to major media reporting.They assume the legitimacy of political power. They usually don't want to make waves or be over-confrontational lest they lose favor with press secretaries and spokespeople. "Fair and balanced" means equal sound bites from the major parties, not investigation of real dissenters and their perspectives.
The media mega-corporations are also inevitably intertwined with the State on a deeper level, too. A corporation is a government-created legal fiction with special privileges and protections. This can't help but create a bias toward the political institution which grants them corporate legitimacy. Thus, even without overt corruption, the incentives of mainstream media are antithetical to open discourse on controversial political topics no matter what protections may be guaranteed by the Constitution and cultural preferences for liberty and independence. There is an in-built blind spot as reporters tend to fawn over people with fancy titles.
There is evidence of corruption, too. Manufacturing Consent, by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky argues for a pervasive propaganda campaign as the status quo in media, and explores several perverse incentives inherent in its structure. Direct political manipulation has also been more or less an open secret since at least the Cold War. The constant fearmongering during the COVID-19 crisis should also be apparent to anyone with even the slightest inclination toward skepticism, and not just the actual virus deniers presented as a caricature of dissent.
Social media was presented as a "Fifth Estate" that could democratize and decentralize news and reporting, but these sites have gradually either become, or been absorbed by, more mega-corporations. Independence of producers on these platforms can be revoked immediately and the content can be demonetized or deleted at a whim of someone takes offense at whatever is presented. Cancel culture and corporate censorship alike are obviously being actively used to shape the narrative regarding very contentions topics from COVID through LGBTQ to international warfare.
Here on Hive, we have everything from serious investigative journalism uncovering real conspiracies and coverups to crackpot conspiracy quacks. Our community is open. Users are free to upvote or downvote content as they see fit. There is no central censorship regime. You must have the discipline and discernment to evaluate everything yourself. This is a good thing. there are liars, there is bias, and there are half-truths. You are free to weigh them all yourself. You may be right or wrong, but you know that responsibility lies in yourself, not some gatekeeper.
"Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces."
—Étienne de la Boétie, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (1577)
The media is effectively an arm of the State, and thus the enemy, but it does not need to be that way forever, and like the State, we can defeat it without violence. We can always build something better. The next frontier is here, and frontiers have always meant freedom. If you would like to join, I suggest using PeakD, and I'll even give you a boost to your Hive Power through a temporary delegation so you can participate even more if you join through my link.