The term Fourth Estate or fourth power refers to the press and news media in their explicit capacity, beyond the reporting of news, of wielding influence in politics. The derivation of the term arises from the traditional European concept of the three estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.
That’s literally what journalism is supposed to do.
I think there’s a little bit of nuance, at least. Like refusing to call a nazi salute a nazi salute, or excessive use of passive voice (eg: “A man was killed after an encounter with the police”). Those things aren’t making the world better.
It’s one part of it. Pointing the camera is a tiny part of what they do.
Metaphorically, they’re not helping.
The ones that step out of line get banned or sued. ABC paid up just to stay in the game. AP refused to capitulate, and now they’re banned from the White House. It’s making them more timid when questioning KKKaroline.
When the consequences for being critical were less severe they were doing the exact same stuff
The media outlets are helping Trump keep focus off of his actual goal. It’s easy when all his distractions are catastrophes by their own right.
It’s like “hey look at Gaza”, “look at immigrants”, “look at all the human rights violations!”
While they just destroy the democratic institutions and sell them to their friends for scraps.
And when they’re all done, they are gonna declare the United States a failed project, and divide the country amongst each other.
Yeah, but that’s not what they’re doing. Their camera is pointing somewhere else.