Americans are gone. Anti-China sentiment is at a boiling point and I really no longer see objective reporting or discussions. It's infuriating that the US is able to manufacture consent so efficiently.
The reality is more depressing than imagining some central command manufactured this consent. It is just an emerging phenomenon to appease the audiences.
I don't imagine some central command – I understand Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony and Marx's base/superstructure dialectic. The American people are completely bought into the imperial line, but they still need to be oriented, thus the massive increase in anti-China rhetoric from State Dept affiliated media outlets.