5. The rise of sectionalism during the antebellum era led to distrust of the media
During the first half of the 19th century, the issue of slavery came to dominate American political discourse. The concept of manifest destiny emerged, leading all Americans to consider the entire continent as destined to become part of the United States. Southern newspapers and magazines supported slavery, as it existed in the Old South and as necessary in the emerging new territories. Northern newspapers, particularly those published by abolitionist societies and organizations, opposed the expansion of slavery and demanded its end in the existing states. Southerners placed their trust in regional papers, and condemned those of the North as spreading lies, debasing Southern society. The Southern press accused their Northern counterparts of being against the Constitution, which not only allowed slavery but provided for the counting of slaves as part of the population.
The telegraph, along with the railroads, allowed for the rapid dissemination of news from around the country. News of the conflicts in Kansas and Missouri were transmitted to eastern newspapers in near real-time and were reported in the daily papers of the large cities. The same event led to men like John Brown being acclaimed a heroic patriot in the South, a murderous traitor in the North. Individual citizens made their assessments based on the information they read in their local newspapers. Human nature dictated that readers trusted a newspaper sympathetic with their personally held views. Sensationalism, especially in headlines and subheaders served the same purpose relegated to clickbait over a century later. Competing newspapers frequently questioned the accuracy of each other as they vied for sales and subscribers.