Came here to say this. Journalism is increasingly seen as part of the commons (public good), like utilities. Under free market forces, it turns into propaganda for capitalists (moneyed interests - not workers), the same way that private utilities charge extortionary prices because people have little alternative.

So the litmus test I use is that if a politician works to undermine public funding of journalism, then they're the product of lobbyists, or at least beholden to moneyed interests in some way, and not a public servant.