Didn't the USSR start out with planned economy and switch to state capitalism after Stalin? I can't recall rn though it was definitely a planned economy at some point. It wasn't ever socialist though.
Public radio stations are some of the most trusted news sources in the US. VOA is decent as well. You can certainly do it poorly (see: Правда) but it's far from impossible to have an independent news organization that is publicly funded or owned
That's the elephant in the room that communists always conveniently overlook.
"There never was real communism/socialism! We need to really move the means of production" - yeah and who will organize it? Who will ensure the organizers won't just take it themselves? Because that's what happened in every attempt.
The Lack also means whoever has a gun controls the press/propaganda as all authoritative regimes have shown. This includes all Communist regimes to date, they have killed ANY internal critics.
Modern Socialist regimes in Europe are to be admired, but Communism requires violent overthrow as a doctrine, and every instance of it's implementation has resulted in a Totalitarian government.
Democratic Implementation is required for successful humanitarian overhaul. Anything else is a dice role versus dictatorship. One that Russia has lost repeatedly, and China has never escaped. Their Authoritarian history has been definitive.
No country dares to have a free market like America has. In most of Europe, consumer rights are way higher. Same for worker‘s rights and for more rights for people with any sort of disorder.
I wouldn't get too excited about the socialist policies of many European countries. We're seeing waves and waves of far right wing politicians sneaking their way into office across the board and many countries' policies have been under sustained attack for decades as a result of corporate interests.
This was a bad argument then and it's a bad argument now.
Either a publication can be trusted or it can't.
The difference is that a government that stands in the middle of free press inherently makes it impossible to trust that press. The only thing a government can and should do is provide a safe (free of the fear of the loss of life, privilege or property) area for people to engage in discussion. People seeking honesty will have to rigorously find it or have the ability to choose who they allow to find it on their behalf.
Capitalists will absolutely try to muddy the waters and people must be prepared for it.