• jballs@sh.itjust.works
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    20 days ago

    Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, in his own tweet on the news wrote, “The first step towards fascism is when the free press cowers in fear.”

    I don’t know if this is the free press cowering, or the free press being bought out by rich people. Either way, it’s some bullshit.

    • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      Private ownership of a news outlet breaks every definition of “free” in “free press”.

      A “free press” no longer exists.

      • Microw@lemm.ee
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        20 days ago

        Eh… no? Most free press is privately owned. Just not by billionaires who influence the content.

        • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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          19 days ago

          When Bozos bought it, this was the exact concern, because there is no ethical billionaire. I’m pretty sure he promised to not interfere with the reporting or content. Turned out to be another lying, selfish asshole with more money than he can ever spend… Who could have predicted that? (besides everyone)

        • Furbag@lemmy.world
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          20 days ago

          When the billionaires who own the media and the highest level of government are in bed together so long as the government continues to tailor it’s policies to ensure that the wealthy stay wealthy, then the line is so blurred it might as well not exist.

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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          20 days ago

          Maybe non-profit would be best. Incentives to encourage good journalism, but not trying to raise the bottom line every year, chopping costs and spamming mass amounts of AI garbage because I’d bet 100 shitty articles is worth more than 1 good article for their bottom line.

          Easy access links to the journalists other works, peer reviews from other non-profit and about me profiles can also help people discern bias.

          I’m no expert though, so I’m sure someone has tried it and found making money is better for their paychecks

          • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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            20 days ago

            What if it already exists, but you, like many others, don’t read it and instead continue to passively consume the very media you’re complaining about? Making better journalism doesn’t mean multiple generations of people hooked on social-media-feed dopamine hits will read it.

            • kofe@lemmy.world
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              20 days ago

              I’m subbed to my local NPR’s daily top news stories. Highly recommend folks in the US look to see if their local station has a similar program or find the closest one.

    • leadore@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      My first reaction was that it was cowering in fear, since trump keeps threatening newspapers. But after thinking about it, why would Bezos give a fuck if trump threatens the paper? He wants his paper to be a trump propaganda outlet because he wants trump to win. Not because he likes trump but because he wants the fascist movement to win so he can get richer (see Blue Origin govt contracts for one thing). Because having hundreds of billions of dollars is simply not enough, so fuck democracy.