Or it isn’t, because “discovered” doesn’t apply to most participants, who are only exposed to a narrative and likely never see followup.

Why does it surprise you that people with more interest in getting accurate information are going to be the ones with more accurate information? If information doesn’t have value to you, you’re not going to pay for it.

No, you wont. You are right. And in a democracy, eventually your rights will be curtailed by those who can’t afford or don’t know to spend that time and money.

It used to be that the State had an established Religion that worked with the state to establish Truth and its boundaries. Therefore the Spanish Inquisition was not merely a religious event but a State event, where heretics were considered seditious or treasonous, and thus handed over to the State to be dealt with before it could be destabilized by dangerous thoughts, words, and actions.

Now what do we do about Truth in this age of disestablishmentarianism? There is no one Religion of the State, and therefore there is no one Truth, there is a Plurality of Truths. That seems to present an existential problem for arbiters of Truth within the borders of the State, doesn't it.

Yep. It’s not that there was ever a Church that was ever fit for the task, but there were people who formed a Church which were powerful enough to impose their own truth. No human institution will ever be fit for the task, but we can maintain the process by maintaining a competitive information environment.