Diogenes wrote:
"The television propaganda system is the lynchpin of political control in this nation. Till we manage to neutralize or destroy it, we will not be able to fix the country.
We cannot continue under this system of one party control of the media, and something *MUST* be done to address it. Every suggestion I have made has been shot down by people who seem to think the existing system of one party control is better."
I think the election results from yesterday indicate that "the problem" IS in the process of becoming "neutralized".
The polls didn't work very well this time.
In some cases they were spectacularly wrong.
The pundits were wrong.
The party establishment was wrong -- on BOTH sides.
The "mainstream media" was as wrong as it gets.
Why did the election turn out as it did?
I think because this time a large number of Americans -- and a large number of "old white guys" -- decided to "play this one close". They kept quiet. They didn't wear their sentiments on their sleeves. They confided only to known sympathetic friends. Most importantly, they disregarded much of what was aimed at them from the media.
Because of this, Donald Trump became the first populist candidate in history to win the presidency, even if he had to co-opt the Republican party to do so. (Andrew Jackson notwithstanding)
I think you're right that this election pretty much neutralized the media advantage ... to an extent.
In fact, the media may have inadvertently worked against Hillary.
I texted my daughter after the election, "Can you believe Trump won?" She replied, "He's a pig but I was sick of the way the media was covering for Hillary."
So.... maybe the media fawning actually backfired.