Apples and oranges...
Back in the day, many things were just off-limits to the press. Reporters knew of the countless affairs of our former Presidents but that was a line that couldn't be crossed. Not so today...there are no forbidden subjects in the media now.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Yes there is. A forbidden subject is a story on a Democrat politician that might make the Democrat loook bad.
Sandy Berger, Newsweeks Isikoff killing of the Monica Lewinsky story, etc.