The point of mass media is propaganda and entertainment in that order.
But this is just my relatively uninformed opinion based on casual observation, not any serious study of the issue. Although given that if this were studied and published in a journal it would have likely gone through institutions which are subject to the same system which would be criticized by the research so...how much good could that really do?
I suppose my cynicism towards the people I’m supposed to trust is the primary thing prevents me from having a more fact based view of the world.
How so? Is it not a fact that politicians can't be trusted, and that, as you said, the mainstream media is largely about programming the populace?
"Cynisism" is what people call realism when they want you to stop talking about reality.
To be a bit more concrete, it’s true that politicians and the media are liars, but then to extend that further to education, entertainment, and those who are culturally influential in general can be quite the stretch outside of a few specific data points. And how is it connected? How does this system actually work? It’s so complex it’s almost immeasurable. A critical view of this is necessarily heavily influenced by intuition and emotion IMO since you’re unable to trust a large body of your learned information from that mindset.
Look at things and keep asking: "Who benefits?"
Consumers with poor sense of perspective and poor critical-thinking skills are more easily manipulated by advertisers. Therefore, dumbing down your viewers is in your direct financial interest.