Re: How important is the freedom of the Press and News Media?

This post sums up the gulf between US and UK politics. In UK terms, Clinton would be a middle-of-the-road (if not right wing) Tory - about as far from a "leftist" as it is possible to get. I think people voted for Trump largely as a protest against the political elite which had largely ignored the majority of electors for decades which is the same reason people are voting for Corbyn now. He may not be what they need, but he is seen as some kind of alternative to the arrogant politics of the corporate capitalist sponsored political class.

The gulf between US and UK politics was brought home to me a couple of years ago when my niece came home from Seattle (where she had lived most of her life) to stay with her mum when she was suffering from terminal cancer. I met her at Heathrow and drove her up to Derby where she was hospitalised. I could see that something was worrying her (other than the obvious concern for her mum) and eventually she blurted out, "Sorry to be blunt, but who is paying for mum's healthcare - I know she doesn't have any money?" I explained to her the way the Health Service works and she was utterly dumbfounded as she had been indoctrinated into thinking that "free" healthcare paid for by universal National Insurance contributions was some kind of evil communist plot. Needless to say, she quickly came to appreciate the benefits of our system and the humanistic philosophy behind it.

Re: How important is the freedom of the Press and News Media?

As a Moderate Republican, I don't agree with everything Trump does or says. That said, He should quit texting stuff and get to work on the Real Problems in the U.S..

American's voted for Trump because we were Tired of giving America Away as Obama did. And Hillary would have continued to do. If the Democrats ( Left -Liberal ) had stood behind Sanders they would have had a chance, Hillary played dirty and she conspired with the DNC to oust Sanders out of the Presidential Race, And Got Caught. She is a habitual liar and a fraud, and by now Bill Clinton would be in trouble like Harvey Weinstein.
The press hounded Obama and Clinton and Bush and Bush sr. The problem with the press IS Ownership, they dictate what is Newsworthy and like all media They over sensationalize story's. Make up stuff and print how they want and what they want YOU to Know no Matter How Biased they are, in their eyes they are telling YOU the Truth as They want you to believe it. So the media and the Truth will never Meet, because it's not a good story, unless they make it so. Some lean Left some lean Right and it depends on what they want YOU to believe. Example a Dragon was spotted having relations with Nessie in Loch Ness, Ok so I was "Rockin The Loch". , Film will be at 11pm tonight.