I also dropped TV, and later, because my partner needed it, I began to release myself from immersion in pop culture, and I was already a socialist - I was liberal but socialist in self-conception, and open to leftist politics before I ever left highschool - the intervening decades saw steady radicalization - but I can echo that it really accellerated in the last half decade - where i just absolutely do not, and will not, plug into “news of record” - some time away initially must’ve made me attentive to former blind spots, because at some point, and i can’t even measure when, I suddenly saw what you mention - the pump n dump fast talking bullshitter nonsense. It didn’t help that these personalities really showed their ass regularly on twitter - it became obvious in 2016 and 2020 that, to anyone paying attention, they weren’t dealing honestly - and it kind of made the curtain come up on the entire media operation in the US.

I am not sure everyone invovled understands their own place and role though - some of these people are bitterly stupid, and possibly true believers - but many of them just are on the take and defending their financial interests and putting their employer’s ideology before their own in the interest of climbing up the ladder - but seeing these dweebs show their ass on social media for several years really effectively undermined the illusion of authority they used to project in days when most media folk were invisible except as a name under the banner of their employers.

That’s probably why there’s a turning back to that - musk running everyone that’s not an insane fascist off twitter is gonna end up serving that crowd even if they’re not happy about it (egos are like that lol) but it’s honestly a good antidote to the illusion at-large to see how dishonest these people really are, and any leftist org worth their salt should emphasize their importance by rising to the unchallenging goal of being more honest and consistent than these folks in presenting information and processing world events.