I don’t think that’s the ultimate solution here — since journalists often work for multiple outlets —- and it’s highly unlikely every news org would take the route of making a Mastodon server of its own.
Sounds like you're just after a 80% keyboard or bigger, no? Plenty out there with all benefits of going premium/mechanical. Search for "TKL mechanical keyboard" and you'll maybe find what you're looking for. It's everything except the number pad.
Give me an example of a video that was removed for "critcizing lockdowns" -- and I can guarantee the reason isn't the criticism, but the manner in which it is somehow "backed up" by disinformation about Covid.
Playing into this idea that somehow criticism isn't allowed is disingenuous.