Were they losing control of the narrative? Is there another reason?
I have been trying to figure out the rhythm and the reason for the news cycle for several years now. The rhythm is regular enough; about 2-3 weeks for a major topic then a sudden shift to a new one. The reason is a whole lot more difficult to figure out. I'm starting to think that there isn't actually much in the way of major scheming long term. I am beginning to think that these people just react and this is what that reaction looks like.
That is not to say they people pulling the strings have no agenda. We can easily see an agenda of maintaining our attention and control over our actions. That is a remarkably predictable pattern.
News cycle: Always be afraid.
There needs to be a very delicate balance of letting the narrative build into a fervor of devision, but never too long that we may start actually putting the peices together and build a real solution as a society - that would be catastrophic to the media elites.
Thankfully, we have the power to end this cycle, or at least it's influence on our discussions. We have the tools to carry on discourse to a workable solution. I have a lot of hope for Steem in particular for this. This looks like a great tool to curate and discuss topics like we have never been able to in the past. Will we use this and other powerful tools to full advantage, or just post cat memes and political pokes?
Probably, if success is to happen, both. We will (and very likely this has already begun) see a growing divide between those that will and those that will not. This is ok. Birds of a feather...
*Memes are just pulled randomly from the internet (mostly from my facebook feed. None are mine.