Free press ?

The so-called free press of the West is steadily evolving into the free-market press, in which profit from advertising drives editorial policy towards populist click-bait headlines, even with the allegedly more serious news media. Of course there are still individual journalists with integrity and clear perception, but their work is too often lost amidst a heap of space-filling junk which seems to respond more to the interest of the corporate sponsors than it does to the readership.

During the recent referendum in Scotland only 1 newspaper out of the 34 available in Scotland represented the views of the 45% of the population who voted for independence. Some freedom.

The fact of 34 different newspapers being available also reflects the absurd levels of consumer choice presented as freedom rather than more accurately as the channel through which parasitic multi-national corporations invade our lives and our societies.