The American media has had five major eras: Era of Partisan Press (1787-1832), Era of the Commercial Media (1833-1899), Era of the Objective Media (1900-1980), Era of Interpretative Journalism (1980-1990), and the Era of Fragmented Media (1991-present).
We are currently in the Era of Fragmented Media and has led to the polarization of the country. Throughout the eras, media has has became more and more bias. There has been a deep partisan divide within the news source and the American trust.
Within the media, there have been claims from both a left and right perspective. This influenced negative attitudes towards the media and has created false information in order to fit their own agenda. The media was always meant to be straight-forward and just provide the facts, but this motive of the media has disappeared.
The media has created many contemporary perspectives: agenda setting, priming, and framing issues. Agenda setting is when the media only gives their audience information about a specific topic in order to fit their own agenda and neglect any other current affairs that also hold significance in the public knowing. Priming is when certain legislations or occurrences are spoken in a more negative/positive light. With this tone, it introduces the audience with this point of view and limits the individual of thinking for themself. Framing issues is when an issue is explained in a certain way in order to garner/negate support.
From these contemporary perspectives, the media has found various ways to manipulate the public. The reason for why society has became so polarized leads back to them and emphasizes that the media is powerful in influencing the public.
