the media were wholly owned and operated subsidiaries of political factions and then of political parties. Politicians wrote vicious attack articles against their opponents and used pseudonyms to hide their identities.
For example, Jefferson was the author of articles suggesting that President Washington was senile. "Martha Washington often recalled the two saddest days of her life. The first was December 14, 1799 when her husband died. The second was in January 1801 when Thomas Jefferson visited Mount Vernon. As a close friend explained, "She assured a party of gentlemen, of which I was one. . .that next to the loss of her husband" Jefferson's visit was the "most painful occurrence of her life."
She had come to dislike Jefferson for his frequent attacks on President George Washington as a monarchist bent on destroying the rule of the people and a senile follower of the policies of Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson even refused to attend memorial services for the President, saying in private that the "republican spirit" in the nation might revive now that Washington was dead and the Federalists could no longer hide behind his heroic image."
http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/thomas-jefferson/

Newspaper attacks were the motivation for one Founding Father who was the third Vice President of the United States shooting and killing the Founding Father who was the first Secretary of the Treasury.

The comments going back and forth in Trump v. Clinton look like a tea party (you know what I mean) compared to the discourse back then.

Jefferson and Madison just detested Patrick Henry.

Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' “Taxman”

....
Patrick Henry wasn't quite as opposed to taxes as Cuccinelli made him out to be. Though it is not widely known now, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison absolutely detested Patrick Henry. Why? Because Patrick Henry wanted to tax citizens to pay the salaries of clergymen.

I've heard that Thomas Jefferson detested Patrick Henry.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=334609

For Religious Freedom Day: What Jefferson Really Thought of Theocrat Patrick Henry
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rodda/2012/01/16/for-religious-freedom-day-what-jefferson-really-thought-of-theocrat-patrick-henry/

Heeeeeeeere we go:

Do I have to post this again?

and

Born, on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia,...

and many other identical posts:

Everytime I read online about the decline in political discourse, I bring out this cartoon. This is how Jefferson was depicted.

I continue to carry a $2 bill at all times in my wallet.

"Congress shall make no law...."

It's No Laughing Matter - Analyzing Political Cartoons

The prairie dog sickened at the sting of the hornet or a diplomatic puppet exhibiting his deceptions

Although the people who founded our nation were very smart and built flexibility into our Constitution, they couldn't have conceived of the 24/7 television news cycle. It's power is awesome.

In the late 18th century, newspapers were the only method of disseminating information. Most of them were published and owned independently unlike today where 6 corporations own almost all of the media outlets. The concept of Freedom of the Press was partly based on the idea that there would be many different voices heard throughout the United States allowing the electorate to freely understand what the government was doing. Today, we mostly have corporate-controlled media.

The consolidation of journalism by major corporations is a detriment to an informed electorate. News should not be subjected to the corporate/Wall Street pressures of quarterly profits. In the early days of broadcast journalism, the management of the Big Three-- CBS, NBC and ABC-- understood that news was part of their social contract and that the benefit of their entertainment-related income was predicated on their responsibility to provide objective news to the American people.

I don't think that former President Jefferson would approve of the way that journalism has evolved in the United States.

You can't just turn on the TV and listen--it's not there. Those easy-availability channels are like media "news" versions of the fast-food and chain restaurants clustered at freeway off-ramps and around neighborhood malls. Good information, like good restaurants, is still there for people who take some additional effort to find it.

After all, we're on DU and then there's Talking Points Memo and Raw Story and Vox and The Rude Pundit and so much more, including from the other side of the trench.

Sadly, most people don't dig into current events. All the information they get is from drive-time radio, The Today Show or Headline News or whichever other cable news channel they plug into.

When I was in 7th grade, we had a half-year course in Social Studies called Current Events. It's primary purpose was to instill a desire to know what was going on in the world. Marshall McLuan's Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, (which was an extended discussion of his aphorism, "the medium is the message&quot , was one of the texts we read. I've been a news junkie ever since.

the the average of 3 years of "civics, social studies, etc." that used to be taught over the 12 years is now down to an average of one.

he wrote and approved hate speech against his rivals. His campaign wrote this of John Adams:
&quot Adams has) a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."
http://mentalfloss.com/article/19668/election-1800-birth-negative-campaigning-us

It is a citizen's choice to only rely on television news as sources of corporate media information. (On television, I prefer PBS' Newshour and Washington Week plus CSPAN).
I am grateful to have tens of thousands of additional, non-corporate options, worldwide at my disposal with the click of a mouse. I count this site among them.

Thanks for that, jamese777. I also agree with your point that the internet is our information friend if one is discerning.

the consul a horse, Jefferson I think we're lost