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Margaret Sullivan: The sliming of Parkland students shows the spreading stain of media polarization

Six months ago, the conservative radio host and blogger Erick Erickson wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, inspiringly titled “How to Find Common Ground.”

“We owe it to one another to disagree agreeably, without anger or intimidation,” he wrote, noting that social media has put us all in polarized bubbles.

Erickson is one of many who hasn’t done a great job of taking that advice since the massacre of 17 students and school staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month in Parkland, Florida.

“David Hogg is a high school bully,” was the headline of a blog post Erickson wrote soon after the shooting, referring to one of the student survivors who has become a leader in pushing for gun-control legislation.