It's hard not to think of how the corporate media acted during the Satanic Panic of the 1980's. Journalism has been dead for decades, it's just that a few people are now finally noticing. People's lives were ruined, and no one cares. I see no decline.
Discussion
See also: yellow journalism , McCarthyism, the anti drug propaganda from the 1960's to the present... I'd argue that journalism has never been "objective" and has always been a tool of a corrupt state or ruling elite.
What's happening now is disillusionment. Sometimes some people wake up to the fact that we've been lied to about *everything*. It's just hard to let go of one's childhood fantasies about being on the good guys' team.
There are no good guys in government, religion, or media.