I read a great book recently called "the tyranny of merit" by Michael Sandel, and I think one of the things that creates these inherently pro-government reporters is that being a reporter for a major news outlet is a dream job. Hardly anyone is just casually being a reporter for NYT or NPR while they work on their other dream. Because these people believe we live in a meritocracy, they believe they deserve their success in getting this job, and therefore the system must work. It's hard to admit that the system is broken when you also have to simultaneously admit that maybe you were just lucky to get this job, and you didn't work harder than anyone else to become a part of the media.
I read a great book recently called "the tyranny of merit" by Michael Sandel, and I think one of the things that creates these inherently pro-government reporters is that being a reporter for a major news outlet is a dream job. Hardly anyone is just casually being a reporter for NYT or NPR while they work on their other dream. Because these people believe we live in a meritocracy, they believe they deserve their success in getting this job, and therefore the system must work. It's hard to admit that the system is broken when you also have to simultaneously admit that maybe you were just lucky to get this job, and you didn't work harder than anyone else to become a part of the media.