Simplistic, talking points from a memo or power point sell more to the American public now than a meaningful, respectful debate between William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vida does and did in the past.
Contemporary American society is more impolite than what it was 20, 30, and 40 years ago. With the explosion of the abortion issue dividing neighborhoods, work places, and families fiercely along with all the other hot button social issues of the time, America has become less polite, more scream, more emotional, and less patient with another's opposing view. This isn't even mentioning the explosion in television programs which would compete for the average American's time alongside PBS.
Think about it, if you have a 9 to 5 job, have kids to support and nurture, a mortgage to pay, and vehicles to pay off, the last thing you want to do after a hard days work is take the time to listen and follow a debate between gigantic intellectuals like William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal. You will most likely settle for American Idol, Glee, Modern Family, or some other brainless entertainment.
We could go into Fox News injecting news with entertainment, but there are other threads for that where agreement is rare and everyone has a different opinion of who is to blame for spinning complex political issues into brainless sound bites like "tax cuts = economic policy" or "Gay Marriage = Gay Rights" or "Medical Marijuana = Path to Legalization" and so on.
