> lost is the ability of the 4th estate to establish a single narrative For a brief while, radio and then television reigned. They were a tight little oligopol

> lost is the ability of the 4th estate to establish a single narrative For a brief while, radio and then television reigned. They were a tight little oligopoly. The only other news came from periodicals that "weird uncles" might read. That was the era of the single narrative. Then there was the rise of cable and in the US, the loosening of rules that led to the talk radio boom, then finally the Internet. The carefully-groomed narrative gave way to cacophony. Today the fingerprints of government are all over main news sources, be that "ex-" spooks actually on camera on network broadcasts or active government interference with Internet feeds. We've always had government trying to stop reporting and censor, but this seems like a different magnitude of involvement. I'm more concerned about that, frankly. > It fosters extremism. Disagree. I think it fosters quarrels. Everyone being encouraged to conform fosters extremism, from the fascist movements of the 20th century to the red scare to the cold war, people were required to salute and stop thinking or else they're not "one of us."