[Sethomas]

To one side, at least we're not the UK. To the other, at least we're not Germany. :/

I personally think that there should be an arbitrary body established with some judicial oomph in it that would be entrusted with preserving the integrity of the media. The first problem would be, of course, that a truly arbitrary body is nearly impossible in any political environment. The second problem I can think of is the case of material that comes close to being slander, but should be spoken all the same. What comes to mind is the post-11.09.01 media dissenters that attempted to connect the attacks to US sources, even the Bush administration. Such speculation being presumably untrue, it verges on the line of slander, yet much of it still was insightful enough that it damn well should have been said. The media might be scared into brushing under the carpet a few details out of the ordinary that might have made for a safe story only in a truly liberal environment, i.e. half a story is more dangerous than a full one. I'm sure there are remedies for these, but it's a pipedream nonetheless.