The US has not had an official government media outlet to its own people. There are official outlets to the rest of the world (VOA), but not internal ones. Things like NPR are public broadcasters, but not government ones. And, while Fox News more or less functioned as a government broadcaster during the Bush Jr. years, and Rush Limbaugh had enormous sway in the Republican party during that time, those aren’t going to be as reliable in the future either.

So, here’s a prediction. I think Trump will set up a government news outlet aimed at American citizens, to get around his definition of “false news”. This has happened in other countries before. He is a media person, and he wants the media. For that matter, he’s also an entertainment person, so it would not at all surprise me to see a rise in the sponsorships of officially mandated and supported entertainment. It has existed in the past, in very targetted ways (e.g., USO, Fourth of July celebrations), but this would be more general.

Not every government supported media outlet in other countries has had the mandate of broadcasting the government position on things. Some have the mandate of being even-handed. What we get here will not have that mandate or, borrowing from Fox News, will be “fair and balanced”, which was anything but.

Let’s see if we get a thinly disguised propaganda outlet.