All true. But in fact, they are competition with the Associated Press, and any competition at least marginally improves the “gatekeeper” problem. It is because of search engines that FR typically “scoops” the MSM on stories which interest conservatives. Granted that a search engine can, in principle, censor by giving the illusion that “there’s nothing to see here” - but that is what the AP has been doing for a century and a half. And the beauty of FR is that we know everyone. The six degree issue comes into play, and with so many of us it actually isn’t easy to smoke things past us all . . . and up pops Buckhead.
We aren’t about to have 50 million Freepers and lurkers