What is up with global political polarization and is it because of the internet...
What is up with global political polarization and is it because of the internet & what to do? Kurtzgesagt tries an answer.
This is a forced argument that was driven by needing to have an answer compatible with the sponsor's product (a pan-political-spectrum online newspaper aggregator)
I think (part of) the problem is it is now free to send messages that enrage the public & orgs and individuals can do it at at scale.
Self-replies
I'm too lazy to find the cite, but an early New York newspaper was making lots of sales about a crime wave, publishing crime stories non-stop on front page. The local gov't finally asked the newspaper to knock it off because there was no particular change in crime. The journalists were just enraging the locals to sell papers and it had political consequences.
Okay, maybe I'll look for the cite.
Okay, I'm recalling something about Yellow Journalism in New York. Still can't find the story about local politicians asking the newspaper owners to knock it off.
Okay, it was Teddy Roosevelt. Still can't find the exact story. He was police commissioner and made an effort to develop good relations with the newspapers, which was a new idea at the time (to take responsibility for your PR)