That would be interesting if it were true, but it isn't. I'm old enough to remember newspapers and news stories from 20 years ago, and they were shit.

Google can strike a deal with a few news agencies to link to the first source of the news, and ditch all other newspapers, though.

Now that I think of it more, what stops Google from charging the news services for the privilege of being included in the search results?

I think they went rubbish before the internet in search of profits. Remember the old meme about whenever the news covers something you know well it is bullshit but you trust it in areas you don't know about? I recall it being obviously worse in the early established days of the internet where there was enough to fact check but not mainstream enough that journalists knew about it to make their jobs easier.

Admittedly I bear a hard grudge against them from my youth and how they would scapegoat and stir up moral panics about the youth and their media. Rainbow parties, bullshit claims about video games and anime, etc. They still love to use Millennials as a slur.

I personally suspect that demographic warfare came back to bite them hard as they grow up and don't trust the ones constantly talking shit about them on garbage grounds.