Such a sad state of affairs where billionaires can basically buy their image with the help of media, the same media that is supposed to keep in check. So, pret

Such a sad state of affairs where billionaires can basically buy their image with the help of media, the same media that is supposed to keep in check. So, pretty much no change in the way things work. While they might not have been billionaires in the past, they were rich. Heck, you don't even need to be a billionaire today. Simply rich enough will do. And it isn't like "The media" has a long history of truthfullness: This has really been a development of the last century. Papers in the 1800s printed falsehoods for sales. The "Spanish Flu" being call 'spanish' is really a result of wartime censorship. War often brings censorship itself. Right now, a lot of media is owned by a few companies. The bright side is that it is easier for everyday citizens to report on things around them (thanks, internet) but everyday folks don't have access to folks like Gates. I'm not sure where you got that he was a covid expert, though. The main reason the media would interview him is because of his foundation's past 'experience' with communicable disease. Doesn't make him an expert, just possibly a smarter ask than, say, asking me about it.