[luckylion]

> My thoughts are that most people's political views are shaped by the media they consume.

Are you sure it's not the other way around? I believe people's political views shape what media they consume. I agree with your point that wider availability plays a role, but I see it mostly in giving people a choice. If you only have one choice in media, you can either not read news or read that one. If you have multiple choices, you can choose whichever seems to make the most sense to you.

People don't want to feel like they are reading an article by someone who has no clue about the matter at hand, which it often feels like when they come from a very different ideological background, they will seem to have things backwards, focus on irrelevant details and completely miss the actual reasons.