When was this magical era?
IMO journalism in the US began its downward slide in 1987, when the Fairness Doctrine was repealed. Once news outlets no longer had to present both sides of a given story, they split into left-wing echo chambers and right-wing echo chambers, so dedicated to pushing their respective narratives they twisted facts to fit their story rather than twisting the story to fit the facts.
Journalism actual began in America as a means to push particular political agendas. As political parties developed, newspapers often either fellow-travelled, or were outright founded by the parties as their mouthpiece. The notion that the news was independent, unbiased, and totally trustworthy is a product of their own modern propaganda (sort of like Hoover’s successful campaign to make the public believe that the inept, corrupt FBI was super-competent and pure). IMO, the “Fairness Doctrine” was a tool for pretending media was fair. I prefer Caveat Emptor to “managed” free speech.