i don’t think it has morphed...it has always been this way...I think Kennedy admitted to having 300+ assets in the Press that would change headlines and stories to further intelligence objectives back in the 60’s.. i can’t imagine that number has gotten smaller.
The cult of JFK is always alive and well here. But this wasn’t a JFK thing. It was from the 50s, some truman but mostly Ike.
It was CIA and the program was named operation mockingbird.