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Re:All models are wrong, but some are completely wrong by mr_toad on Sunday April 05, 2020 @06:35PM (#22789306)
> the purpose seems to be to create the consent of the populace for what the leadership wants to do.

Having spent a lot of time working for and with governments I can assure you that most of the time, behind closed doors, they truely hate the press, and wish it would go away. And this is true of even the most open and democratic governments.

Autocratic governments, again and again have shown what they think of a free press.

The idea that mainstream media is a mouthpiece of government just doesn’t add up.

Re:All models are wrong, but some are completely wrong by closeparen on Sunday April 05, 2020 @07:27PM (#22789602)
I think it's a question of how far outside the Overton window your own viewpoint lives.

Newspapers may pester governments with annoying questions about specific institutional failures and corrupt individuals, but they'll tend to be aligned on what the institution was supposed to achieve, what faithfully executing an office would look like.

The New York Times will ask the NYPD, "Why did you beat up that guy in a routine traffic stop?" or "How is it possible that you billed more overtime hours than there are in a week?". Not "Why haven't you shot the rich yet?"

Re:All models are wrong, but some are completely wrong by monocasa on Sunday April 05, 2020 @06:51PM (#22789399)
That's not an issue unless you think of leadership as a homogeneous blob. Of course they don't like the portion of the media pushing the other guy's cognitive structures; and ultimately that's what they mean when they complain about the media.

The way you can particularly see this is in the suppression of news that doesn't ultimately help out _any_ of the current leaders with it's dissemination, only the populace.