Joining this one late (I can't believe that I missed this thread).
The way I see it, this is about TWO things: history and economics:
Media has gone from being a public service - when the only way to receive it was through rabbit ears and tune in when it was on in the evening (Walter C and so on). That was a way to keep the government honest and the truth was reported (I'll just say that was for the most part the purpose and leave it there).
Once cable TV took over households, news became a business.
That's all it is now. It's all about the money from ad revenue. The now dubbed MSM (main stream media) all have cable equivalents. They need new attention grabbing characters to tell you what they think or what you should think along with outlandish statements and headlines. And you need to pay them...
Who makes the money?
Somewhere I read that about 70% of the news media organizations are owned by much of the same people (investors, board members and the like). It sounded a little bit like a conspiracy theory but there is some truth in there somewhere. So if you own part of both sides, you're always making money. And you make more money when the two sides are battling it out; drawing in like-minded viewers on any channel. If you really look to understand what's dividing our country, look no further than Fox, CNN, Axios, MSNBC, ABCNews, CBSNews and the list goes on and on (including OANN - even though we all like Chanel). If you had to put all of these on a spectrum of left to right:
CNN, MSNBC, ABC/CBS/NBC AXIOS OANN
OANN has recently come along way - fighting for viewership ($$$$). People are buying up subscriptions online to watch it when it's not available from their provider.
If it hasn't been said yet...
The news media is a business. Plain and simple.
Reporting isn't about facts, it's about the money!
Money comes from advertising. When there is nothing new to say, say something outrageous to pull viewers in.
This is all just my opinion.