"News" has been decaying for a really long time; pretty much since reporting became mostly about getting attention rather than reporting facts... I don't remember exactly when the term "info-tainment" was first coined (1980's?); most "loudly" brought to mind by the likes of Geraldo and Phil Donahue... they weren't exactly *fake* news, but they certainly helped set the scene (on TV) for *"people must be ENTERTAINED."* by the news. And so, a version of clickbait was born: "*On the next Geraldo: Men Who Were Raised By Schools Of Seahorses!"*

Of course, this is just my own theory... but if we have been trained for nearly 40 years to equate "entertainment" with "the News" then the underlying inclination to attach importance (and verification) to public reporting has probably materially contributed to getting us where we are today. And now we will have "bot wars" over the news... with less and less being related to events, and more and more being related to positioning. 

Then the question becomes whether conventional news reporting is quietly committing suicide, as the only thing that seems authentic is a civilian with a cell phone camera, not the news "media."