So I lurk a lot, both keep sane during the week, and to pick up some story ideas. I wanted to make this post a while ago and chickened out, but seeing that post about Maddow fawning over Biden's new dog made me want to try with this account again.
US media is absolutely a big-L Liberal institution. But you'd be surprised how many socialists, or socdems at least, write for smaller and mid-size newsrooms. So AMA about trying to be a reporter with leftist views in a decidedly anti-left racket, or about the inner workings of American news outlets that aren't CNN, MSNBC or Fox.
In what sense do they even give you the choice to not play ball with the editors? It would seem like once you hand the story off to an editor they would do what they want and publish it however it is.
It depends on the editor really, and how big the newsroom is and if its a union shop or not. In some situations you can haggle about what you want to keep or even just straight up demand it if you've got some other reporters to back you up. But that's rare. Most of the time you're at their good graces about what ends up in front of people's eyes, and all you can really say is pretty please, don't gut my article sir.