Short response, but full of interesting points.

I went to the BBC link. There is a whole psychology behind negative news. And we are being manipulated to attract advertising revenue. And, obviously, we must be buying enough of the advertised stuff to justify the expense of advertising. So we get more negative news. It is a sad cycle.

Negative advertising in election campaigns is designed to convince a "soft" supporter of a particular party that his/her preference is not worth the effort to cast a vote. This is almost as good as vote for the other side--and more effective in winning the election than other campaign tools.

We could argue the degree of the "delusion" of the American population. In my quest to promote an alternative democracy, I have encountered many people on Medium (and other places) who know there is something seriously wrong with our world. Yet these same people cannot come to the conclusion that they need to investigate this alternative democracy. The current democracy is fine--according to their subconscious.

Building this new democracy will start with 1% of the population, maybe less. But if we wait until 50%+1 are on board, it won't happen. All social movements have started with a small minority.

Writers may need an outlet, but they should also be part of the action.