Why is this happening?
I think the answer is clear.
The success of Fox News demonstrates that people were on to the fact that the dominant media are relentlessly liberal leaning. People knew it. They weren't fooled. They saw the bicoastal bias; they "got it" that the broad expanse of the country (the world of ordinary, everyday Americans) was left out.
So, first real chance they got, they gravitated away. They wanted more views from the middle and from the right rather than a steady diet of the liberal line. They wanted something that made sense to them -- common sense, as they see it. This is what "fair and balanced" means: A chance to get away from the WaPo, NYT, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and yes, CNN.
The dominant media can be oppressive. People wanted a break -- and they got it and they liked what they saw and heard and they came back (and come back) more frequently than they expected to.
Fox and the WSJ and internet sites like Drudge have provided a badly-needed alternative. Fortunately, the market was there for this. The free market of news, thought and opinion thrives.
Let a million voices be heard!
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