I wouldn't call them slaves so much as just lazy bums. If contents of a press release don't fit with their worldview, they criticize it mercilessly. Some of them even investigate, though I note that most of what passes for investigative journalism these days is pretty sloppy.
Partly true, some are lazy bums. Are you a reporter or journalist?
They have a pathetic existence and are easily manipulated. Their bosses can threaten them when threatened by political or financial maneuverings of their subjects. Many get killed trying to report the truth and more often, even when the truth is reported it is greeted with apathy on the part of the people or buried down the memory hole.
Bill Greider wrote a book called Who Will Tell The People? : The Betrayal Of American Democracy. This was back in 1992.
“This provocative manifesto, an eight-week PW bestseller in cloth, charges that America’s political parties, unions and media organizations have abandoned the citizenry, leaving powerful moneyed elites in control of politics and government.” - http://www.amazon.com/Who-Will-Tell-People-Democracy/dp/0671867407
Here’s a guy who reported it all nearly twenty years ago and the electorate ignored it. And here we are again with powerful moneyed elites still in control.
Journalism is a pitiable profession. Scoundrels get the reward. Of course, it’s the Devil’s world...for now.