I often wonder if there wouldn't be overwhelming positive changes if the "Fouth Estate" were required to be non-profit. (Churches serve many important functions, and yet must be non-profit.) The profit motive for the major news outlets is their greatest problem, so why not remove it? The zealous types will still be there, but the truth-bending sensationalism will mostly disappear. Seems like it might be worth a shot, anyway.
Actually the profit motive is not the sum total of the motivation for journalism. They are yielding to the temptation not only to make money instead of serving the public, they are yielding to the temptation of power. The power to elevate your own importance by denigrating everyone else. No, the only way to mitigate the pernicious influence of journalism is for the public to recognize the limitations of the genre. And to understand that if someone claims objectivity that is proof of their subjectivity.