SNIP

>The media here can't expect any such help, and have to worry about their own finances. The truth will remain obscure.

Yes, that is a huge problem, and things may well remain obscure in my lifetime. There are several basic things that the media is clearly colluding with "the powers" (government, corporations, etc) on already. A few simpler examples:
1) Suicides, especially on our subway system but also in general, are rarely reported here. A 'name' may get a bit of press, but usually small and sympathetic.
2) The inflation rate. Quoted over the last several years as being between 1.5-2.5 per cent annually, yet costs of virtually everything rise from visit-to-visit to the supermarket. The press regularly reports on price increases in utilities or large-ticket items or heavily used products, but they never relate the alleged lack of inflation and the price increases. Something is obviously stopping them from doing so.
3) The company affiliations and the major clients of those companys are never even mentioned as regards "market analysts" on television or in other media. Nor is the secret language that they (have to, to keep their clients) use when communicating their "positions" ever explained. Why would any average listener understand a "hold" to mean "sell"???? When a "respected" (we are told) analyst says he still believes in a stock that has gone from $90 and is now at $5, how is someone to know that the stock is a major client of his firm??? Oh yes, on small news items or fluff network talk shows you may hear a statement along the lines of "...Of course, in the interest of full disclosure we want to tell you that AOL (the subject of this item) is our parent company.", leading one to believe that such advising is done EVERY time it migh be remoely relevant. Of course it isn't.
4) REAL foreign news. We used to regularly hear of the IMF or World Bank's latest "deal", and shortly thereafter the chaos that ensued where that deal had happened. We hear NOTHING any more about either, other than seeing a "Pinnacle" piece on CNN about their top man. We used to hear about uprisings here and there, civil wars, coup d'etat, etc. Now about the most we hear about is floods and hurricanes and earthquakes. I really couldn't blame candidate Bush for not knowing the name of the person who had recently taken over in Pakistan. I didn't know either, and at least he knew it was a General!
It's like nothing really happens in most of the rest of the world.

But I don't think it will go on too much longer. People will start to notice all of the contradictions. There are getting to be too many lies, all of which have to hold together in some fashion, that things simply have to be exposed. And 'publishing' is getting much cheaper (when money isn't the objective) and communications ever faster and more widespread.

At least I can hope.