Hey, @rosemaryoneill:
I'm glad you brought up that yellow journalism and its variants have been going on for quite a long time, and tends to have its cycles just as most everything else does.
That said, in this day and age of instant everything, which includes the 'news,' and endless speculation and review of the events, well before there are even any facts to present, yellow news has ascended, or descended, to a whole other level. Or, at least, more of us are exposed to it nearly as quickly as it happens.
The said thing is, as you say, many people have become so used to it, that they don't know it's not truly journalism, but agenda driven propaganda with some marketing for ratings thrown into the mix.
It's absolutely true—Most news outlets are nothing more than PR firms for certain societal or political philosophies. They all seem to share the same headlines, press releases, AP news, etc., without caring about fact checking if it fits the narrative.
Never in my lifetime has a presidential election been won in good measure because the candidate ran against the media! How amazing is that? It may very well happen again.
The answer to the problem is going to be complicated, since the media is almost indistinguishable from the political parties, and those shaping society. It would all have to be dismantled and discredited, and for that to happen, I'm afraid a lot more pain and anguish is coming.
Absolutely right, and I'm concerned that younger generation users of social platforms see the "News" heading and assume that everything under that heading is fact. Hopefully we're raising critical thinkers.
Well, I've tried in my case. I'd like to think that others have too, but I'm afraid too many parents have abdicated many of those types of responsibilities to the schools. The ones who are aware of what is going certainly try to instill some level of critical thinking in their children, but those parents who basically think it's the school's job to educate, well, I'm afraid there's lots of them. In other words, the parents aren't great at critical thinking themselves.
The problem is, critical thinking might not get you where you want to go, either. Knowing what's true doesn't mean that everything is going to fall in line. It generally makes you an outsider, especially when it comes to elections or party affiliations or anything political. Too many are voting against something else, or voting with their emotions. Critical thinking is largely thrown out the window.