Media Collusion

   "Fake news" is part of a conspiracy by liberal journalists in collusion with Democrats to foment a coup against the president.
   Or that's what conservatives would have us all believe. But there are more than 1,700 daily newspapers in America, plus radio and television operations, magazines and Internet news outlets, all on constant deadlines and competing for the time and attention of readers, viewers and listeners, while trying to keep revenue flowing from advertisers.
   So who's got time for collusion?
   Besides, reporters are more concerned with getting the story before their rivals than about conspiring, colluding or even cooperating with their competitors than in coordinating news coverage.
   This is not to say that reporters are not liberals. Many are, but they don't let their opinions influence their reporting. Rather, they leave that to the editorial/opinion pages and they generally don't talk to them, much less coordinate coverage.
  Moreover, there are many news outlets that are avowedly conservative, both broadcast and in print, which slant their coverage to help promote right-wing views. A prime example is the Fox network, which reportedly has the largest viewing population of any of the cable channels. And their rights are equally protected by the Constitutional guarantee of free speech and free press, including television.
   But to restrain these rights for liberals in the name of "equal time" and to prevent the alleged stifling of "competing perspectives" puts everyone's First Amendment rights in danger.
   Yet that is precisely the danger put forth by an executive order signed by the president that bars federal aid to schools where liberal-minded students outnumber conservatives. The allegation: These schools "stifle competing perspectives."
   The danger, however, works both ways.
   Disagreement with the president "shouldn't be allowed," some of the more radical on the right say. But they would be the first to protest if liberals made a similar claim.
   Who gets to decide what's allowed and what's not?