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> US federal government has virtually no control over the US media industry They may not have any control de jure, but the government (federal or otherwise) ha
by pdkl95 10y ago
> US federal government has virtually no control over the US media industry
They may not have any control de jure, but the government (federal or otherwise) has de facto gained a lot of control by threatening the media's "access". Yes, this should be an empty threat that the media shouldn't submit to so easily, but in practice it has been extremely effective in keeping some topics off the news.
- tptacek 10y agoIn what sense? Can you provide specific examples? It hasn't been my impression over the last (say) 4 years that the media narrative has been dominated by stories that started with access. In fact: access to the newsmakers of the opposition has probably been more lucrative.
- pdkl95 10y ago> In what sense? Journalists have been complaining for at least 10-15 years about having to self-censor their coverage under threat of losing access to politicians and other "insiders". You should have seen many examples of this yourself. The problem isn't any specific story. This kind of self-censorship creates a culture based on never challenging authority. Did you notice, for example, that CNN has slowly fired anybody that regularly "threatens their access" by acting like a real reporter? What about the people claiming[1] that the job of a journalist is to only act as a stenographer? [1] http://www.mediaite.com/online/michael-wolff-says-journalists-covering-trump-should-just-transcribe-what-he-says/ http://www.mediaite.com/online/michael-wolff-says-journalist...