Conclusion
The United States media system has entered a period of intense change: the number of channels, and thus of competitors, is multiplying; the boundaries between media sectors are blurring; and economic resources and power over the flow of information are shifting into the hands of the tech giants. The business models of the legacy media that have sustained professional journalism have become weak, and journalism has entered a period of instability and insecurity. The rise of politicised media, particularly on the populist political right, has challenged the traditional non-aligned or centrist stance of most news organisations, and trust in news organisations has declined and become more dependent on political partisanship, even if the highest-circulation media still avoid strong partisan identities. Immediately after the election victory of Donald Trump, many speculated that legacy media and the kind of journalistic professionalism associated with them might dramatically decline, but they have to some extent rebounded, with many of the most important national news organisations gaining audience and maintaining strong importance in the public sphere, albeit not with the dominance they enjoyed at the height of their influence.