For as long as I’ve been alive the mainstream media outlets have served as the propaganda arm for the state. I’ve always wondered why the state relied on third parties to spread its propaganda. As it turns out there were laws in place that prohibited the state from directly disseminating propaganda (it did it anyways, it was just more subtle). Those laws have sunset and the state is now looking to cut the mainstream media middlemen out of the equation:
For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government’s mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized as a green light for U.S. domestic propaganda efforts.
Who says the state can’t become more efficient?