"A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens." - Nelson MandelaI realized as I read this quote from Nelson Mandela, that we do not have a "A critical, independent and investigative press" any longer. The cynical will tell me we never did, but that's not true. We did have a strong News system during in years past. Now, however, nearly every news source available to us is fully corrupted by outside interest and inside bias.
Every reporter will naturally have some bias. This is the first thing taught to serious history students. No matter how hard you try, some bias will exist in your findings, because of the experiences and knowledge obtained by our individual backgrounds. We see more clearly those things which we have previously agreed are important before. We hear more clearly those words we have previously heard and understood before -- but this is not the level of bias I am pointing out. I'm speaking of the level of bias that creates a News system whose reports are over 40% wrong, lies, or deceptions. I'm talking about a bias which will ignore important events because they are inconvenient for their constituents. I am talking about a bias of willful and orchestrated ignorance.