“We the people have very little influence on what the media does”
That kind of attitude always presents ‘little influence’ because there is no act. Trump’s approval rating is over 50%, so how is the media making money if they’re losing Trump subscribers? I address the online version of our local ‘press’ by commenting on the fake news with facts of why it is fake. And the articles get pulled. What would happen if every Trump supporter canceled their subscriptions to the media for the month of January?
The ‘News’ today isn’t funded by viewership. CNN is proof of this. They are most often loss leaders of a large conglomerate of corporate sponsorships. Unsubscribing from a news outlet might put your local town newspaper out of business, but you have zero effect on the NYT or Washington Post. Amazon can keep the Post alive indefinitely for example.