They only get noticed by the general public once some media person sees it, misunderstands the point, gives it a clickbaity title and sells it for clicks.

Doesn't comr up in Google search when I need it, so.

I‘d wager that the general public can’t name three scientific journals on average. In Germany COV19 sure helped to get some insights from public persons regarding pre print and review processes. However, even friends that have done their Bachelors don’t know too much about publishing. It basically begins with your own career in academia that you know how journals and academic publishing „works“ but outside of that no one really cares.