By Eric Levitz
Publication Date: 2026-03-23 10:00:00
For more than four decades, technological advances have been undermining the authority of experts, democratizing public debate, and steering individuals toward ever more individualized conceptions of reality.
In the mid-20th century, the high cost of television production – and the physical limitations of broadcast spectrum – severely limited the number of channels. ABC, NBC and CBS jointly owned television news. On any given night in the 1960s, about 90 percent of viewers watched a Big Three newscast.
Journalistic broadcasts were not only limited in number but also ideologically. Network news departments all sought the broadest possible audience, a business model that prevented iconoclastic viewpoints from spreading. And they also relied largely on official sources – politicians, military officials and recognized experts – whose views fell within the narrow framework of serious opinion.
This media environment fostered broad public approval of…
