I think GP's point might have been specific to Trending. Youtube's algo is pretty good at throwing me interesting content from my own subs, but I agree with the GP that the trending list is garbage.

Also, attempting to do broad searches for most news topics simply returns CNN, ABC, etc like clockwork now, and they're not at all the type of content that got Youtube where it is today. It's become more and more MegaCorpTube in recent years.