I’d think the recent poor performance of the politically motivated news generators might have something to do with the added difficulties coordinating between the players.
Political operatives now recognize the need to hide their activities from hackers. Just think how much harder it must be to coordinate with like-minded activists when you are afraid to use e-mail. Personal meetings are fairly safe but very time consuming. Phone calls are a bit less safe, but much more convenient. I’d trust the various instant messaging systems a bit more than e-mail since they are unlikely to be backed up by an unsuspected system administrator.
I would attribute it to a trend of minds being less and less amenable to nonsense. Communication still isn’t that much of a problem for those who are dedicated, as mentioned. However, agreement has to happen or else the lies won’t even agree. As higher and higher canons of plausibility are required, the efforts progressively fail. (Pun present, whether or not intended by me.)