More and more people are realizing that the mass media does not represent freedom of expression. Nor is it interested in giving truthful reporting. The media, whether it's in the form of newspapers, television and radio broadcasting, academia material... it's all controlled by a handful of giant corporations.
Corporations can exert control over the media by:
Ownership
Employing the controllers or senior staff of the media source
Subsidising - Some media companies are so heavily subsidised they are totally at the mercy of corporations.
Dirty tactics such as pay-offs; bribes', blackmailing... this does sound quite Mafioso I know, but it does occur.
Quash at all costs
Writing, anyone or anything considered a threat to their businesses is quashed in the media by suppression, ridicule, disinformation or lies. Make no doubt about it; with the stamp of approval from governmental bodies, ultimately it's the corporations that call the real shots. Thus, what you get from the media is not necessarily the truth or the whole picture of what's going on.
As a consequence, people have been living in a world of make-believe, not knowing that some of the most fundamental principles are wrong or flawed... Even the so-called experts are unaware of what's really going on, because, in the eyes of corporations, such as pharmaceutical companies, quite simply, making money is more important than telling the truth, even if it means the loss of many lives through keeping the masses in ignorance.
Ways of keeping the theater of illusion going
Anyone speaking out against the establishment is dealt with in a number of ways:
An individual may have one hundred things to say against the establishment on a particular subject matter, which shows conclusively that he or she is right. However, let's say one out of the hundred things is wrong. The establishment will only cover this incorrectness and used it to invalidate the individual.
If someone speaks out against the establishment on a subject they are not formally qualified in, then the media are known to pick up on this as a way of invalidating that person, i.e. use it as a personal attack and not discuss what he / she had said. - In response to this: Science is only interested in facts. It doesn't matter if it comes from someone who's a long standing expert or a complete layperson: facts are facts.
The media can draw people's attention away from the truth by employing a tactic used in the cold war called 'targeted disinformation.' This is where attempts are made to destroy a person's reputation, even though he or she has not done anything wrong.
Another one of many examples used to defend the establishment's political and economic interests is to put out scare and fake stories just like the James H. Fetzer planted fake story. This has paid dividends for the establishment. They know how gullible people can be.
The equation is a very simple one:
Your inactivity = more suffering and death.