Journalists used to have a monopoly on the news. This power bred restraint; whatever their private feelings, they avoided overt personal attacks. Now this power and the consequent restraint are both evaporating. Now they're just Twitter users.
I think this is the core (lost) value behind gun culture. That power often is a gateway to responsibility and maturity. It’s been lost the same way a lot of mainstream religions have lost their spiritual contexts. Now it’s all identity politics.