The theory is that an informed and educated public will result in the best results for American democracy. The social media, advocacy journalism, echo chamber culture that we've evolved into is just what we don't need. It has fostered and exacerbated the political polarization we face. We rely on the democratric process to provide the legal environment in which we must live and do business. The network we expect to help protect us and our rights.
Here's one of the best articles about filters and the bias of social media news. It explains what is going on. It helps explain the echo chamber.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/magazine/is-social-media-disconnecting-us-from-the-big-picture.html?_r=0
A recent book dealing with this topic is Larry Atkins, Skewed: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Media Bias (2016). here's on review
http://portlandbookreview.com/2016/11/skewed-by-larry-atkins/
Excellent book if you want to try to get out of or avoid the echo chamber. Evaluates and recommends websites. The author admits he is a liberal, and, in my opinion, inaccurately minimizes the bias in left-leaning newspapers such as the New York Times. His cure is media-literacy education. This is rather naïve. There is no cure. People are addicted to their smart phones and social media. They don't want to get information that challenges their beliefs and makes them uncomfortable. They don't want to get out of the echo chamber. Who wants to take a course on, or hear a speaker talk about, media-literacy. It's going to get a lot worse and I don't see any end in sight. Sadly, the only thing with a chance of pulling the country back together is a major tragedy. The future of American democracy is not good. I fear that somewhere down the line, a man on a white horse offering totalitarian solutions, and his politican lackeys will destroy American democracy.
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