Does and should the media present news or opinions?

'Opinion and fact should be clearly divisible. The truth is, a large part of the media today not merely elides the two but does so now as a matter of course. In other words, this is not exceptional. It is routine. The metaphor for this genre of modern journalism is The Independent newspaper. Let me state at the outset it is a well-edited, lively paper and is absolutely entitled to print what it wants, how it wants, on the Middle East or anything else. But it was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views, not news. That was why it was called The Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper, not merely a newspaper. The final consequence of all this is that it is rare today to find balance in the media.'
Tony Blair, speaking yesterday as quoted by today's Independent newspaper

You can read the whole story in the paper or online


This is from the front page of today's Independent, which you may have seen in the entrance hall or in class. Tony Blair's view is obviously that the Independent (and maybe other newspapers as well) are presenting their own point of view on things rather than the news itself. He also seems to be suggesting that readers are not able to separate out what is fact (news) and what is just opinion.
I feel that most people know exactly what they are reading and how to understand it, and that the media generally presents a reasonably good mixture of fact and views. I may not always agree with the views of a newspaper but I think I can recognise that it is just the writier's opinion.
What do you think? Should newspapers just print news or should they also print views? Can you recognise when reading a news story in English what is fact and what is just opinion? And do you think the media in your country is similar to in Britian or different? I'm interested to know what you all think.