Independent Journalism Is Never Government Funded

People who grew up reading the BBC or AFP may imagine a correlation between a state media and democracy, but a more dependable indicator of a free society is whether or not obnoxious private journalism (like the Russian Top Secret, whose editor Artyom Borovik died in a mysterious plane crash) is allowed to proliferate. As for those once-storied European networks, most have now become parodies, operating in concert with multiple official review operations like BBC Verify or the “Trusted Flaggers” of the EU’s Digital Services Act. This layered messaging system essentially guarantees favorable coverage of public policy and is more dangerous than asking the listeners of stations like NPR to pay for media they like.

As anyone who’s read Hate Inc. knows, I was until recently a proponent of public incentives for journalism, which is necessary but hard to fund. The Post Office Act of 1792 charged publishers fractions of normal postage rates. Western expansion was aided by gratis rides on the Pony Express for “newspaper slips,” and the Communications Act of 1934 helped birth broadcast news by requiring licensees of public airwaves to operate in the “public interest, convenience, and necessity.” After the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 passed, we enjoyed an imperfect system that left room for public and private innovations, from Sesame Street to Radical Chic. Which was great, but how nuts do you have to be to think “strong state media” doesn’t have a dark side? Is the history of this stuff just not being taught?