Gnu Media, political writing, 1st Amendment and Monty Python

Trust me. As usual, mainly where I blog elsewhere, everything in that header will come together.

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing social media accounts is no way to establish a media company. Just because some watery tart in a lake handed you a YouTube channel, that doesn't make you a publishing or media company." —
Monty Python, The Holy Grail and the Gnu Media (2019)



True, the free speech clause says you can call yourself whatever you want. Per Monty, you could call yourself the "Arthur, King of the Britons Publishing House." And, the freedom the press clause, also following the "no law," means that the government cannot define what a media or publishing company is or is not.

In other words, especially on judges ruling whether a blogger or whomever is a media company? Even there, there has to be a certain amount of actions. That said, judges can't rule on whether the falsity of reporting, rather than its truth, disqualifies someone from being a media company.

But, the general public, including yours truly, can proffer exactly such definitions.

Critical reporting (at least on occasion), not using leading questions to fuel conspiracy theories, and other things, can be used as reasonable "tags."

So, if you're a winger (and on some issues, per "horseshoe theory," it doesn't matter WHICH wing, you're just a winger) thrusting a mike in front of minor party political candidates, or interviewing each other?

You're not a media company.

Update, Nov. 18: Maybe some of this is related to journalists (fairly small sample size, but all digital or digital first) being less morally developed than 13 years ago?