Brad Smith in the National Review:

But imagine a world without these so-called “outside” voices — so denounced by big media — spending money on politics: What messages would voters hear? Who would control the information needed for Americans to form political opinions? The media, of course! In fact, the complaining from media outlets about super PACs and the court decisions that enabled their existence is little more than a turf war over who gets to talk to voters, influence positions on issues, and tug at the levers of power in Washington. The fact that Super PACs are scorned as “outside spending” is telling. Outside of what? Super PACs are citizens speaking directly to other citizens; what they’re outside of is the traditional media/political power structure. It used to be that the New York Times and other big media had a near-stranglehold on political influence. In the age of super PACs, that is no longer so.