Anons,
For quite a while, I have been searching for a way to aggressively combat the fake news while not screwing up the constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of the press. I was justly afraid any type of "fact checking" or "verification panels" would be immediately co-opted by the other side to shut down any news source not falling into lock-step with their perverted propaganda.
After reading again and again how CNN is sinking lower and lower into the ratings, the pivotal question also back to mind: "How do these failing fake news organizations survive?" Their billionaire owners (persons or conglomerates) pump money from their profitable endeavors into these organizations to keep them afloat (all while writing off the "losses" on their taxes at the same time).
If fake news did not have their massive safety net, they would have to compete fairly in the news marketplace and survive or fail on their own merits. What could bring this about?
If the majority of fake news were no longer underwritten by massive personal or corporate bank accounts, only a few of them would be able to survive in the marketplace of facts and ideas.
Enter existing anti-trust laws. If these billionaires and huge conglomerates were limited to owning only one news outlet and forced to stop colluding to promote a single narrative, REAL news outlets would begin to have a fighting chance in the overall news marketplace.
So, whoever the next Republican President will be, one of their top goals should be to clean out the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice so those organizations can closely scrutinize media conglomerates and if found they are unfairly monopolizing the marketplace, break them up.
Obviously this is only the beginning of a plan to take back the news, so if other anons have suggestions or enhancements of this outline of a plan - - let us all know.
We need to protect free speech and freedom of the press, but the fake news needs to become subject to fair market forces.