Suburbanization, homogenization, polarization....

[All Along The Watchtower]

Back in the days before so many Americans lived in suburbs, back before there was no interstate highway system, back before the mass media was less concentrated in ownership, homogenized in content and much more local and decentralized in its reach, back before all the advances in communication and technology-back before all of that, and more-the political process in the United States was much more localized, parochial, and driven by political parties and political machines than by candidates and nationwide interest groups.

The question, therefore, is how have of all of the aforementioned factors contributed to the nationwide homogenization and ideological polarization of American politics that we see today?

[Link]

I disagree with your premise.  News in the early days of radio and television was far more homogenized than it is today.  There was a crazy thread started by Krazen a couple of days ago and he used a link to a Glenn Beck website to "prove" his point.  I think today more so than any time in my lifetime people think they are entitled to their own set of "facts."

Back in the day people responsibly reported the news.  Yes some stories were suppressed, but at least some level of fact checking went on.  Now any crazy right wing blogger can post nonsense on the web and the Krazens of the world will repost it all over the web like it is the gospel truth.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I disagree with your premise.  News in the early days of radio and television was far more homogenized than it is today.  There was a crazy thread started by Krazen a couple of days ago and he used a link to a Glenn Beck website to "prove" his point.  I think today more so than any time in my lifetime people think they are entitled to their own set of "facts."

Back in the day people responsibly reported the news.  Yes some stories were suppressed, but at least some level of fact checking went on.  Now any cray right wing blogger can post nonsense on the web and the Krazens of the world will repost it all over the web like it is the gospel truth.

I was thinking of local newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc. when I wrote that.

I think the point, though, is that people reporting the news were responsible and accountable, certainly moreso than they are today-where profit and sensationalism reign supreme.

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I was thinking of local newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc. when I wrote that.

I don't know how many people ever actually got their news from local papers that just covered the suburbs.  TV and Radio cover broad geographic regions.  Same for big newspapers.  If someone is getting the bulk of their news from a suburban news paper they are pretty ignorant.  And most of those things are just about little league games and a new shopping center opening up.  They aren't really hard hitting controversial publications.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I was thinking of local newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc. when I wrote that.

I don't know how many people ever actually got their news from local papers that just covered the suburbs.  TV and Radio cover broad geographic regions.  Same for big newspapers.  If someone is getting the bulk of their news from a suburban news paper they are pretty ignorant.  And most of those things are just about little league games and a new shopping center opening up.  They aren't really hard hitting controversial publications.

Well, not the suburbs, but the small towns that many (and at one point, most) Americans used to live in.