"The newspaper owner controls the professional politician"

“FOR the strength of a newspaper owner lies in his power to deceive the public and to withhold or to publish at will hidden things: his power in this terrifies the professional politicians who hold nominal authority: in a word, the newspaper owner controls the professional politician because he can and does blackmail the professional politician, especially upon his private life. But if he does not command a large public this power to blackmail does not exist; and he can only command a large public – that is, a large circulation – by interesting that public and even flattering it that it has its opinions reflected – not created – for it.”

~Hilaire Belloc: The Free Press: An Essay on the Manipulation of News and Opinion, and How Counter It.

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