The handling of this Biden story really puts into perspective how unfree the American press really is. Every justification they've cited for not covering it (unverified, illegally obtained materials, etc.) is obviously BS, because they cover so many other stories that have the same supposed defects. But they've gone further than ignoring the story to active suppression of it - banning people who report on it online, trying to shame and freeze out journalists who dare to cover it, etc.
The whole purpose of the free press guarantee in the First Amendment is to promote the free flow of information. Obviously, this isn't a violation of that, because these are private companies (though NPR is not), but it certainly undermines the purpose of it. If our media isn't quite an Agitprop or Reich Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment yet, it's moving that direction at breakneck speed. Even if it's not happening by government coercion, it's happening by cultural forces in the media. If you have a culture that doesn't respect free speech and press, then you don't really have free speech or free press, even if the government is nominally free.
The whole purpose of the free press guarantee in the First Amendment is to promote the free flow of information. Obviously, this isn't a violation of that, because these are private companies (though NPR is not), but it certainly undermines the purpose of it. If our media isn't quite an Agitprop or Reich Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment yet, it's moving that direction at breakneck speed. Even if it's not happening by government coercion, it's happening by cultural forces in the media. If you have a culture that doesn't respect free speech and press, then you don't really have free speech or free press, even if the government is nominally free.
