Now instead of one or two popular crackpots selling snake oil we have hundreds on social media and elsewhere spreading the equivalent of snake oil.

lol... things are different. in the old days, no one would have ever known tesla's side of the story.

Yes, this is how I read the OP's comment about the days of BS being over. In the past, newspapers had exclusivity not just in access but in voice. Their frame was THE frame. Today, anyone with a phone can be a journalist. Anyone (not everyone) can access a large audience and get their story out. Anyone can establish an alternative frame, or point out lies, smears, dubious sources or stealth edits.

Can a newspaper be serious without putting its published articles under source control with complete edit history?