Media manipulation

Subject: Media manipulation.

What is the purpose of the media. Is it to inform, is it to question and criticise or is to support an ideology and better still, the interests of the shareholders who control the purse strings.
In a sense the media should be independent, have independent views and be fearless in protecting independence in what ever form it takes. The corruption of the Fourth Estate, (the media) is its overt bias and the outrageous political tampering with the minds of the electorate by printing lurid stories which have little if any truth in them  and has been a retrograde feature of the last 40 years. The media business has become the vocalisation of the political and financial needs of powerful empires and the game which is played to demerit a political leader or opposition leader has become scandalous and nationally, counter productive. There are moments when people in the political ferment have to be brought to book and I have no problem with that but the planned onslaught on a party or party leader where innuendo is used to discredit him or her and where no amount of fact paraded at a later date can shift the impact of the original damning headline.
Today we seem to be followed the line the Americans took years ago, adding to the already toxic 'pork barrel politics' and the massive distortion made to the body politic by financial lobbying, they also let loose on the airwaves the "shock jock" a person who's sole job is to shock and dig dirt.

The BBCs mandate is to appear even handed, even to the point of farce. Emily Maitlis, a senior program presenter recently received a reprimand over her remarks on Newsnight, (one of BBCs top news commentary programs) when she appeared to criticised Dominic Cummings for having been caught out flouting  the rules of non travel at the height of the pandemic lock down. The government immediately bullied the Beeb to punish her, which it did, perhaps as much in response to its own strained relationship being in conflict over funding by the Licence Fee, but the point I wish to make is that the shackles placed on the BBC are seen nowhere else in the media where it's pretty much open season.
I remember the days when The Times stood for absolute probity, the stories were factual and no one queried them. Today everything is written with a slant, reporting the facts as they happen is no longer the job a newspaper sees as its role, instead the news is tied up in 'opinion' which is usually slanted to provide an advantage for it owner/ share-holder.
Without authenticity we are cast in a black hole never quite knowing who is right or wrong, we become confused which of course is the aim of our political masters since a confused person is over ripe for manipulation.

S