The role of media in polarizing people

As a long time observer and participant in the generation of opinions and distribution of news, I have (along with everybody else) experienced the ever more polarized political climate.
Looking back over the last 100 years or so, it would appear that polarization is a wave phenomenon, based to a considerable degree on economic conditions.
During the "dirty thirties" a peak was experienced with extremist political ideologies taking hold, ultimately leading into World War II.
War exhaustion and post war reconstruction settled things down, leading to the consumerism which peak we are now experiencing.
As it turns out, mainstream media tends to attract people from the 'progressive' side of society, as do academic institutions.
As a result, the 'big trumpet' has been blasting out messages that reflect the values and preconceived notions of these people as gospel truth, while demonizing opinions on the other side of the ledger.
This has been going on for years, and has led to a predictable reaction from the other side of the political spectrum: Simply directing mainstream media messaging to the garbage bin.
Then, along comes a 100 year pandemic with a need for unified collective action to beat it, and it is, predictably, not happening.
Aesop had it all figured out in his fable about the shepherd and the wolf. When the wolf finally appeared to attack the sheep, nobody would listen to the shepherd's warnings.

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