Some good has come of the media discussion. I think the “small” papers used to tell us they were like the “big” guys.  Now you are telling us that all papers are not alike, which is true.  I saw one poll after a debate where the people rated the media lower than any of the candidates. The major TV news outlets broadcast less false news because more of their time is taken up with advertising. And that brings to another issue.

Americans are unwilling to pay for a good newspaper.  I see the cost of Le Monde (Paris) on the street is about $2 (2 Euros).  There are also other newspapers in Paris.  There is less advertising.  Most American papers are dependent on advertising.  In effect the American reader is willing to limit his knowledge to what the advertiser wants him to read.  

Most of the advertisers want free trade.  So we are going to read stories about how shipping out our jobs is good for America.  Employers also are advertisers, so we get stories about how run away immigration and creating more applicants for fewer jobs is good for the economy.  

As fewer companies control more of the economy, there are fewer advertisers and they need fewer news outlets.

I used to go to a store which carried different newspapers.  He had a number of newspapers in English, which pretty much said the same thing.  

He had about a dozen newspapers in Italian, some from Italy, some from the USA, and they had many different stories.   They also cost a little more.  The reader was paying for the paper.  I found it will worth the struggle to read them.

Robert Joseph Underwood
Springfield