Bingo.

Agreed!

So true. This happens a lot in the UK too. Journalists are government PR officers.

But it's cheap and easy

Well the idea is that they report "the State Department says ____" and then let the viewer/reader decide if it's credible.

I think that's what they want, it's easy. People take the path of least resistance usually. Can't imagine a reporter doing anything like the reporters in movies, that's investigative journalism.

I’m confused 🤔 You ran for President ? Where were the reporters going to get their information from if you had become President?

That’s how it works.

Uhhhhh this is what has constituted "news" for the past 40 years and why mainstream outlets have destroyed public trust.

Calling them “mainstream” gives them too much credibility. Call them the corporate press.