I also really like Matt Taibbi's "Hate Inc" hypothesis, which is basically that consensual reality is no longer the business model employed by news organizations to get viewers, its more like contempt and fear of the other. It does strike me that Fox pioneered that, although it seems like the rest of the media apparatus has hopped on board.
Structures like churches and local communities have crumbled away, and parents and family have to work so much that the state via schools do a lot of child raising these days. (there are tons of kids who are with the state from 9am to 5 to 6pm, however late after school will take them), then there parent has to give them to grandma or babysitter on the weekend to work some more. People's guiding authority in their life has become the state.
But it’s not just News Ltd anymore. Fairfax has devolved since Nine bought them out, and the ABC is a shell of what it once was. Just look at what happened to Nick Ross for reporting the truth about the NBN, or Emma Albericie for reporting on tax cuts in a way the Government didn’t like. They were basically forced out. Then all the budget cuts leading to redundancies of many of the good voices. There are still a few gems, but the ABC is mostly in a “report in a way we like or it’s more budget cuts” position and are mostly toeing the line.