If we don't know what is going on, the corrupt oligarchy can get away with anything. And that is happening in America today.
When "shareholder" capitalism takes over newspapers, they destroy them in the name of shareholder returns. Profits become the only thing that is of any interest to the hedge fund masters of local newspapers. The news is of no interest to them at all.
And, of course, there is more to it than that. It is not just buy the Chicago Tribune, fire half the staff, gut the company and relocate the deliberately understaffed newsfolks to a warehouse in some remote burnt out part of the city. It's not just make a buck until the paper fails totally and then abandon it. That would just be vulture capitalism out to rape and pillage as vulture capitalism rapes and pillages as normal.
No, I think the actual goal is to make sure that local news is unable to report the local news. Make sure investigative reporting doesn't happen. Make sure that pollution and graft and influence peddling and all the crimes of the oligarchy go unreported and thus unstopped.
The Atlantic has an important long read about all of this about a vulture hedge fund destroying local newspapers, including the once great Chicago Tribune - "A Secretive Hedgefund is Gutting Newsrooms".
Destroy the news and pillage at your pleasure.
And, of course, this hedgefund - Alden Global Capital - contributes to Trump and Republicans. Of course.
One of the ways to inject money back into newspapers is for CONGRESS to intervene and require the social media giants like Facebook and Google to pay the newspapers and magazines for the content that they show on their platforms. If I read an article or opinion from the Washington Post or Washington Times, the Post or Times should get some money - a penny? We need the institutions of democracy, CONGRESS, to protect democracy.
