I'd argue that people's impression of the world is going to be driven largely by their own perspective, not media. Borrowing a quote [1] from Stephen Pinker, probably the most visible advocate for 'things are getting better' : "... the United States is an outlier among rich Western democracies, with a stagnation in happiness and higher rates of homicide, incarceration, abortion, sexually transmitted disease, child mortality, obesity, educational mediocrity and premature death.... "

And that was written back in 2018 which absolutely feels like the "good ole days" compared to now a days!

[1] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/02...