It happened sooner than that. Think about McCarthy and Edward R Murrow. McCarthy was right and Murrow had to destroy him.
I guess in my mind, those were/ are separate theaters- mass consumption & political. But you’re right. And Edward Murrow is the crossover between the two.
I’ve never really delved into how that played out. I should have because it’s always perplexed me. I was born in 1956, so all of that happened before I was born.
I was really kinda shocked that communists had infiltrated government & journalism back during FDR’s time. I can’t remember if it goes even further back than that.