I could make a strong argument that Donald Trump became president of the US because of CNN. This "independent" news station, driven as it is by the requirement for profit ahead of newsworthy value or meaningful journalism, gave Trump a huge amount of free airtime during the Republican nomination process. It was good for ratings. Good for advertising income. I suspect CNN thought that he’d never win the nomination and if he did, Americans would certainly not be stupid enough to elect him as their president. Of course, they didn’t factor in the amount of "advertising" from Russian Trump supporters the news media would also accept in their search for revenues and profits. There is a debate about whether independent media is ever really independent because of its dependence on advertisers and the wealthy. In the realm of American politics, it has allowed us to reach the point of "one dollar, one vote", as very wealthy Americans buy up media time to propagate their views. I see Business ...
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