You understand what a centrist is, however the meta perception in online America is that a centrist is a right-winger in disguise.
News has determined decades ago that they get more attention by being entertaining. Dry factual news and clearly delineated opinion pieces don’t get the views/clicks, and by extension money, so it is unsustainable. It still exists, but it isn’t prevalent.
I don’t like that type of competition and we end up losing everybody else as the sarcasm and references get more obtuse and obscure until one of us loses and slingshots up to potty humor.