The point raised, however, is non-trivial. Our "free" US press is anything but. Every major US news outlet is owned by a mega-corp. Reports are slanted. Can this be debated?

The only place to get non-corp news is off the internet. Find some good foriegn press to read. I like the Guardian, The Scoop, The Economist (be careful with this one) and specific writers in several other papers.

From the US-
Paul Krugman is my current favorite (NYTimes columnist, how bizarre).

Followed closely by Joe Conasen,

And always and forever, Molly Ivins.