Wanted: An adversarial press

In response to The Full Fusion of Media Power and Government Power? What Could Go Wrong?:

I’ve always thought the big problem with media bias isn’t when they go hard on Republicans – I prefer vigorous investigation of the political class, no matter what party they belong to, and Washington itself is a perpetual system distinct from the party in power at any given moment.  The problem is when they go easy on Democrats.  

There is no conceivable happy ending to the government/media fusion you described.  Those forces should be forever in opposition.  Even well-meaning high-level leaders can be betrayed by the failures of a titanic government system they don’t command in detail.  Reporters should invest every level of that system like truth-seeking termites; the entertainment culture should constantly challenge the assumptions of the political class.  Both artists and journalists love to portray themselves as giving voice to the voiceless.  It’s beyond disturbing when they team up with the State to declare that nobody worth listening to remains voiceless.