Legacy media falls under the “if it’s free - you’re the product” heuristic.

I see it as more of a mind controlling system than anything else these days.

It provides the context and the frame.

Once this is set the discourse is controlled and the borders erected in the scope of what most people think about a given topic. This frame becomes the governing frame, then anyone outside this appears to be outside the culture and non-consensus, and for most they won’t believe anything is “true” until the mind control machine confirms it is so.