Journalism?

Having watched the behaviour of the US press in the last few years, I find it astonishing that Ridge even finds it necessary to hold such "directive events" - I thought mainstream US journalists, editors, publishers and so on already had given up independent opinion in favour of parroting government propaganda, er, information.

Had the same thing happened anywhere else, I bet US offical would be screaming about attempts to unduely influence the free - whatever that means in the days of homeland (in)security - press.