[randusername]

News is perpetually in decline just like the old perpetually fear the young will bring humanity to ruin.

Kierkegaard in the 1850s:

"The daily press is the evil principle of the modern world, and time will only serve to disclose this fact with greater and greater clearness. The capacity of the newspaper for degeneration is sophistically without limit, since it can always sink lower and lower in its choice of readers. At last it will stir up all those dregs of humanity which no state or government can control."

[conductr]

While the history of news quality has been cyclical, I think there’s some objective truth if you’re starting reference points is 1970ish-1990ish and on. The internet broke their financial model. They had an integrity and editorial standard; long abandoned. And, the fairness doctrine was abandoned. Fast forward a bit and the industry has or is devolved closer to what it was in your quote.

I’m sure there was still some funny business going on. They didn’t report so heavily on tabloid stuff and probably protected people in power more. But there was absolutely some level of investigative journalism in every article.