At one time, newsrooms were not required to be profitable. Reporting the news was considered a community service. Corporate ownership provided the necessary funding for its newsrooms–and did not interfere.
Roy Carroll owns the Rhino Times,
Warren Buffett owns the News and Record
and the two paper's advertisers and connected elite
get good coverage to increase Roy's bottom line
and Warren Buffett's financial industry profits
by not reporting negative news on investment fees.
But the 70′s and 80′s corporate ownership required its newsrooms to be profitable. Slowly but surely, newsrooms focused on personality, entertainment, and wedge issues–always careful not to rock the corporate boat, always careful not to tread on governmental policy. Whoever thought that the News and Record would become a breeding ground for one particular party, as the Rhino disembled into real estate development promotion while destroying Carroll's competition with negative attack pieces.
Consider the Greensboro Partnership and the Neighborhood Congress; They organize to create news; then spin it in the direction they want for themselves.
Are matters of substance discussed?
When has a serious policy debate been allowed without editorial interference from the media itself?
If you think Greensboro's political process is being used to increase the profits of favored individuals, you are correct."
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/failure-of-globalization-and-the-fourth-estate.html
