> RT's model prioritizes consensus in quality instead of brilliance. Using RT for a best of list will give you good safe movies instead of outstanding ones.
> I'd say it's a good model for news.
It's not, but then the whole concept isn't good for news. Particularly, a model with the effects you describe would favor news that, irrespective of the ground facts, avoids reaching conclusions that are going to be unwelcome to any significant group.
If "news" involves reaching conclusions, isn't that really "editorial" content?
For example, it's one thing to report what AG Barr's letter on the Mueller investigation says, and maybe also what it doesn't say. It's also "news" to report what various players say about the report.
It's another thing for reporters to speculate what it means in terms of future investigations, or whether the report is "trustworthy," or to reach similar conclusions.
I suspect most people either can't or don't care to tell the difference.
Fox News, for instance is widely regarded to be biased to the right. And their opinion or editorial content absolutely is, often to the point of absurdity. But their actual news content is very well done so far as I can see. Do their viewers distinguish the two? I doubt it. Do their detractors distinguish the two? I doubt that also.
There is a significant amount of respect for Shep Smith and Chris Wallace in predominantly liberal news discussions (like r/politics subreddit) for being willing to criticize Trump and Republicans.
Was there similar respect for these two men before 2015, when they were presumably being no less sincere but circumstances were such that the targets of their ire were not targets shared by predominantly liberal news discussion forums?
That might sound like a rhetorical question, but it's not. I don't know the answer.
> I'd say it's a good model for news.
It's not, but then the whole concept isn't good for news. Particularly, a model with the effects you describe would favor news that, irrespective of the ground facts, avoids reaching conclusions that are going to be unwelcome to any significant group.