So the big issue with the entire business model of journalism is it's just too easy to buy influence.

Jeff Bezos has already reaped many multiples of his investment in the Washington Post.

For more or less a nominal amount of money to him He's able to shape much of our public discourse.

I suspect a volunteer non profit news organization could emerge. But even then, how many skilled journalists are going to be able to work a "real" job too.

> volunteer non profit news organization [...] skilled journalists

This could maybe be done with retirees or those who are mostly financially independent, as well as those who want to help run the nonprofit.

The problem is that in the current climate, it is harder both to retire and to become financially independent.

If you want the labor of skilled journalists beyond a trickle of content from the ivory tower type, you either need to set up an intentional community or simply pay people enough to live on. I don't see any clear shortcuts. Quality output requires sufficient energy inputs.

> Jeff Bezos has already reaped many multiples of his investment in the Washington Post.

Has he though? The Washington Post has actually been a leader in primary reporting in Amazon's union busting activities [1]. He may have pressured them to not endorse Kamala Harris, but he likely would have better standing with Trump had he had never bought the Post in the first place.

For all the shit that mainstream media gets, much of which is deserved, alternative media is order of magnitudes worse with regards to manipulating public discourse.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/09/amazon-...