Study: Media shifts to opinion, advocacy, ‘personal perspective'

This study seems to track with my observations.

Study: Media shifts to opinion, advocacy, ‘personal perspective'

That shift many have sensed from hard news to opinion and advocacy in the media, especially on cable TV, is real, according to a new and authoritative report from research giant Rand Corporation.

In a study of trends from before 2000 to 2017, it found a big shift in how news is presented on TV and in online reports that means more “personal perspective,” issue advocacy, and opinion.

Newspapers, it said, have shifted in how they tell their stories, away from the old who, what, when, where, why and how approach to storytelling and personal perspective.

Broadcast has shifted to offering more opinions and arguments.

Cable TV has gone all in on opinion over news.

And online has become opinionated and advocacy based.

As a cable news watcher, I've noticed that there is very little actual "news" and a lot of opinons by a regular set of panelists who don't seem to have any particular skill set or knowledge base other than giving the opinions that the hosts and producers want to hear.

In other words, it's mostly a waste of time.