Your thesis is right on the money, Stinky, and I agree that stupid people will vote for stupid people.

The media, however, isn't to blame; it's the stupid people. Stupid people don't educate themselves about facts and knowledge. Sadly, there are far too many stupid people and the Brexit vote illustrates that the Stupid isn't limited to the USA.

For the most part, the posters on Democratic Underground are informed and intelligent members of society. They make it their responsibility to search out the news from various sources and then try to distill some kind of "truth" from it all. There are others in our society that perform this basic civic duty to be well informed using whatever sources they have available.

Conversely, far too many Americans (and presumably, citizens of other countries) don't try to be informed. They get their news from "The Today Show" or Fox News or Headline News. The complexity of the 21st century world cannot be distilled and understood in the 15-second sound bites or brief internet headlines that make up most of broadcast and published news. It's the responsibility of an informed public to oversee its government. That's why our Constitution begins with, "We, The People..." Unfortunately, far too many people, particularly on the political right, have embraced ignorance as a strength.

So, I believe it's the stupid people's fault. If they weren't stupid, we'd have better news. In the end, all media is a reflection of its society.