He’s correct about what happened but not IMO, why. It had little to nothing to do with sensationalism or celebrities. Its all been driven by the massive consolidation of media in this country that took place in the 90s and early 2000s. Over 90% of the media is owned by just 6 corporations now. The media used to be much more diverse and fiercely competitive. Now all it takes is a few wokesters at the top of the pyramid to stifle all but Establishment, Globalist, Envirosocialist thought.
The saving grace was supposed to be the internet and in its early years especially, it was. But then the rise of the government backed and deeply government tied social media companies was like the rise of the consolidated media on steroids. The ties between the Deep State and the likes of Google, Facebook and (pre Musk) Twitter were and are right out in the open.
There’s a name for it when big business and government are in bed together with each doing the other’s bidding. Its called Fascism. That’s what’s been building in America for the last 30 years.
I think both of you are mistaken. It has little to do with media consolidation. If the companies which own the media were culturally for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, there would be little problem.
What happened was Progressivism/Marxism, as an ideology took over the media, starting with the radio networks during the Roosevelt administration when the FCC. Roosevelt put his man in charge. The administration made sure the radio networks were pro-administration, which meant Progressive. Censorship during WWII consolidated the ideological change. The radio networks became the Television Networks. There was a concerted effort to take over newspapers and turn them into Progressive papers. Thus, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Associated Press always had a leftist/Progressive bent.
The recent change is because the Progressive media has lost its ability to control the narrative. Now the Media/government complex has to resort to raw censorship to control the information flow.
GREAT post. Thanks.