What Trump,. Maduro and Jeremy Corbyn have in common

There is a lot wrong with the media. They don't get everything right or deserve a "free pass" in which we automatically believe everything they say or write.

But they don't get everything wrong either. Sometimes criticism by the press of companies, governments, political parties over the whole range of the political spectrum are right.

I disagree with many of the views of the economist J.K. Galbraith, but he was right on one thing - a society is more likely to stay free and responsive to it's people if there are competing centres of power, if no one authority - be it the state, the church, or an alliance of big business - is too powerful.

Therefore it is important that the media should be independent of the state - any attempt to use state power to control abuses by the media is likely to prove a cure worse than the disease.

Similarly the problem with denouncing anything media says that you don't like as "Fake news" is that this provides a wonderful get-out-of-jail-free card for any politician criticised by the media, very possibly for something they are justified in calling out, to deflect the criticism by shouting "take news."

James O'Brien has an article here on three of the world's worst offenders in this respect ...

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