I think it's fair to interpret OP's point as an intentional bias. That might be guard rails, it might be an ideological or political viewpoint, it might be something else.
But the notion of promoting a viewpoint and distributing it freely is as old as myths and sagas, it's at the heart of propaganda (and is why propagandistic "news" sources are often cheap or free to access, often heavily subsidised elsewhere).
This isn't to say that all subsidised and low-cost information is propaganda, or that all paid-for information isn't. But you should probably squint hard when accessing the freely-available stuff, and perhaps make use of several largely-independent sources in making assessments.
But the notion of promoting a viewpoint and distributing it freely is as old as myths and sagas, it's at the heart of propaganda (and is why propagandistic "news" sources are often cheap or free to access, often heavily subsidised elsewhere).
This isn't to say that all subsidised and low-cost information is propaganda, or that all paid-for information isn't. But you should probably squint hard when accessing the freely-available stuff, and perhaps make use of several largely-independent sources in making assessments.