It’s a mistake to believe that conservatives would move to the left if they just had better information. Great journalism is out there. If an algorithmic echo chamber prevents people from seeing it that’s hardly the reporter’s fault. I’d go further to say that the algorithms can’t be blamed for giving us what we want.
What we learned from the documents made public during the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News was that the hosts, producers, and executives were terrified of upsetting their audience. After all these years of liberal commentators telling us that Fox was radicalizing Memaw and Poppop, when we got a peak into the sausage factory it was the opposite. The viewers were radicalizing Fox.
Conservatives don’t become deplorables because they’re misinformed. Conservatives get misinformed because they’re deplorable. Don’t get it twisted.
It’s not the media 's job to entertain or pander to their audience. A legitimate news outlet is only there to inform on current events and, optionally, put that into context. What they choose to report on, how they frame it, and whether they choose not to report on something is entirely an editorial decision.
If someone’s asking for bullshit even though it’s not on the menu, and you choose to serve it to them anyway, you’re responsible for their bad breath.
Maybe / maybe not (won’t argue that point), but when a shady news outlet constantly feeds them that garbage, they’re adding fuel to a fire that might otherwise extinguish itself.