So-called News Media and conflicts of interest

News media's only reason for existence is the strength of it's credibility--the strength of its integrity--its consistency in being what it claims to be--an impartial reporter of the news.  News Media is nothing if it does not claim impartiality.  Without the label of impartiality then it isn't news media, it is a business.  And good for it if it chooses to be a business--but at that point in can no longer claim to be unbiased--to be impartial--to be News Media.

We live in odd times.  Very odd times.  News media lies through their teeth and we just sit back and let it happen.  

Take ESPN for example--right now the organization is going through an identity crisis.  Is it a news media organization with journalist integrity or is it a for-revenue business with partiality, biases and points of view and interest to protect and pursue?

ESPN finds itself now violating a principle of information rules--separation of conduit and content.  If you own the pipe you naturally want all the content possible to fill your pipe.  If you own/produce content you want your content to be carried in as many pipes as possible.  When you mix the two and own both content and conduit you will naturally select of favor or have bias toward some content or pipe over an alternative.  You act contrary to what you claim you are and thereby lose your integrity.  

If you claim you are a conduit--a News Media--then you need to report on all content objectively--no bias--no favoritism.  ESPN no longer does that.  As a producer of content it now disregards news that is unfavorable to ESPN. 

When a football announcer's son became a news story, ESPN--a self-proclaimed unbiased news media--tainted the story favorably to the interests of its employee, the announcer.  In this very instant ESPN lost its credibility, lost its virtue, lost its strength as an reputable and trustworthy media of news.

In another case, ESPN's competitor entered into an agreement with a sport property, which then found itself, the sport property, the target of ESPN's investigative journalism questioning the integrity of the sport property.  No conflict of interest there ESPN?  ESPN should at least broadcast and disclose its obvious conflict of interest, but it won't.  Just like it won't admit other instances of conflict of interest either.

And this is repeated daily at all news media organizations that do not overtly disclose their bias.  The left specializes in this brutally ugly practice.  No disclosure.  Just ugly, blatant lies.  Claiming to be unbiased while demonstrably doing the opposite.  Their actions do not match their claims.