State media operations, including what most of American media has become, are the most pervasive danger to journalism. Nothing degrades real journalism and erodes public trust in media more than sycophantic propaganda ops that claim to be "news networks."
Press freedom orgs are rightly concerned about hardcore oppression - reporters thrown in jail by tyrants or murdered by mobs - but they underestimate the danger of state media. They have trouble understanding that journalists can be the biggest threat to journalism.
Politicized media has a powerful corrupting influence. There is less and less room for real journalism as politicized newsrooms eat up more of the information space. Agendas dominate all coverage and push aside reporting that doesn't fit the ruling party narratives.
And while it's bad to have politicized media that undermines elected government because the "wrong" party won the last election, it is far worse to have journalists become state media operatives because the "right" party won and they support its agenda or adore its leaders.
At least when corrupt and politicized media opposes the party in power, a little useful and valid information might leak out from time to time. State media is wall-to-wall propaganda, turning the full power of both government and massive media organizations against dissenters.
The State has a huge amount of power to manipulate media coverage. At least when the media's favored party is not in power, reporters might make some effort to resist, although during the Trump years we saw the permanent bureaucracy feeding plenty of garbage to friendly press.
It's becoming questionable whether real journalism is even possible in the mega-State. Can you have meaningful journalism when the ruling party has so much power to manipulate Big Media, and Big Media has so much power to control, marginalize, or even silence small competitors?
But press freedom advocates tend to focus on anything that smacks of confrontation between politicians and journalists. They don't see how coordination can be a greater danger to the public interest than confrontation, corruption a greater danger than suppression.
The big press freedom orgs tend to embrace a guild model of journalism in Western societies. Once you're in the guild, you cannot possibly be a threat to journalism. You're off the radar screen. Only outside forces can be a menace to the guild or its work product.
Of course, this is party because there is so much commonality of interest, culture, and even personnel between Western Big Media and press freedom advocacy groups. The orgs are often staffed and guided by veterans of Big Media, or graduates from the same schools.
It's long past time for press freedom advocates who wish to be taken seriously to separate themselves from the journalism guild and understand that some of the worst threats to Western journalism are coming from within the media.
The primary measure of press freedom cannot be the number of reporters in jail, or the number of times government officials have tried to shut down media organizations. Corruption is a far worse danger in the Western world right now than suppression. /end
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