this gave us the illusion that we were in a world of Truth, because why would these centralized corporations ever lie to us, or massage the facts in any way? it's The News, of course it's inherently trustworthy.
then the Web came about, causing some to see cracks in the foundations. then the iPhone was released, social media took off, and now the news monoculture is almost (but not quite) dead, and we're back to fending for ourselves in this onslaught of information.