Lots of blame to go around on our current state of politics.
1st and foremost is the repeal of the "Fairness Doctrine" which required that any FFC license holder present both sides of an issue,I believe it was during the Reagan presidency?
2nd is the major prevalence of organized religion.....and their emergence in politics,too many people get their news feed from the Pulpit
3rd is the blurring of truth ie alternate facts,facts don't matter and according to Rudy G "Truth is not Truth"
I’m not in favor of the fairness doctrine. While the major outlets don’t provide a balanced viewpoint which often precludes a point of view I might agree with, I recognize them as profit making businesses that will either succeed or fail based on their earned reputation. They’ve largely failed in my eyes. I also don’t trust any organized government to accurately or adequately ensure fairness in reporting - better they stay out of it all together.
I don’t currently attend an organized religious service and that wasn’t my experience when I have in the past. Politics was never discussed. I agree it is discussed in some religions services, but couldn’t guess at how prevalent that might be. In my life, I’ve found it much more dominant in academia and on Facebook.
Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Just look at any contentious issue of the day. The best role of journalists in a free society is to attempt to be impartial arbiters of the facts. Society works better when this is the case. Unfortunately, modern western journalism/media are regarded by a majority of the population (myself included) as being corrupt and untrustworthy.
