If the government didn't spread its propaganda, then private institutions and individuals would be free to disseminate their own. It's not about controlling or avoiding the conversation, just being part of it. The administration in any government - democracy or otherwise - has a reasonable self-interest in persuading the public to support its goals. As long as claims can be verified as such, I don't see why it's a problem.
Exception: someone could make a bold-faced lie to a large audience for sensation and later make their honest correction in a place nobody would look.
Exception: someone could make a bold-faced lie to a large audience for sensation and later make their honest correction in a place nobody would look.