American mass media lost all credibility about 25 years ago, and in an ever falling downward spiral since. Jerry Springer was more credible. What we have today is some sort of state controlled propaganda driven game show with rigged winners and losers.
They’ve always lied when it suited them.
Partisan newspapers did character assassination of key figures even in the Washington administration. For example, they tried to claim Washington wanted to be king. (As ridiculous as trying to claim Trump is a Fascist and wants to be dictator!) Look at the Civil War vicious inaccurate and untruth press on both sides! The press cooked up a reason to go to war with Spain -Spanish-American War! The press kept a pro-Allies anti-German drumbeat going so it was easy for Wilson to take us into WWI. (The Lusitania was carrying arms!)