(The internet is the invention the elites would have killed in the crib if they knew how easy it would be for the average Joe to research stuff and fact-check for themselves. Makes it damn awkward for the elites.)
Nobody really *knew*, but a few had some insight. The small government types saw the possibility much more than the establishment, because they saw bias in the establishment media.
But no one *knew* until the Republican revolution in 1994. The elite and establishment media were dumbfounded. This was not supposed to be possible.
Then the media doubled down and became actively, knowingly repressive and propagandistic. Any attempt at objectivity was gone. They *had* to defend their long, slow “revolution” against the masses.
It took 20 years for the mass of people to see the deception, but the Obama years finally did it.
IMO, the advent of Fox News (1996) was the spark that ignited the MSM self-immolation.
The presentation of the center-right point of view to the general public gradually drove them into a frenzy because they could no longer control the narrative. It caused them to double-down over and over until they no longer even bother with appearing “objective”.
It’s been an eye-opening experience.