If you look into the ideology at the foundation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, censorship resistance and free speech is a major part of the core development of the technologies. One of the main goals is the decentralization of power, and many developers are working to make this happen. STEEM is the application of this ideology to social media technology. What that means for the media is that it provides a means for both financial independence and a censorship-resistant distribution system. If you're on Steemit, chances are that you've correctly recognized some of the inadequacies of more established platforms like YouTube or Facebook. In order for STEEM to survive, since it is community-supported, its members will always (at least in theory) generally trend towards doing what each believes is for the good of the community. And so even if we don't agree on politics, if your actions on here also work towards the good of the community (a definition which seems to depend on who you ask), then you'll always be amongst friends here.

I've been exploring blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies for the past year that have a specific media application for similar reasons that I think drew you to Steemit. In order for the media as an industry to be able to do its job well, or at all, financial independence is of the utmost importance. While corporate media has its own way of funding things, I think that independent media will migrate more and more to the cryptoworld as it becomes more apparent that this is a viable solution to our funding challenges.

Regarding your response to the caller, I think you correctly highlighted the need for greater media literacy among the public. Since the Internet is a more ambient presence in our lives now, this need is even more important.

Thanks for posting the question, @davidpakman.