&gt;<i>That&#x27;s implying that it hasn&#x27;t always been like that.</i><p>I don&#x27;t ascribe to the &quot;culture is always the same constant thing quality-wise, nothing ever changes but fashions&quot; viewpoint.<p>From all I&#x27;ve read from others and experienced personally, I see that even if that well-informed culture in the past only concerned&#x2F;involved like 5% of the people, the equivalent 5% is worse off today.<p>At least in my country, along with the usual entertainment stuff, 20 or 30 years ago we had several excellent newspapers with big circulations. Editorial standards now are at an all time low -- and even worse for the internet outlets that replaced them.<p>Same with TV -- the quality of TV product has shrank considerably, from high brow movies and talk shows to the equivalent of Oprah or reality TV.<p>TV news for example, started with a couple of presenters giving an overview of current events in a somber tone and well written copy, and it has since the late nineties turned into the equivalent of a Geraldo show, with &quot;dramatic&quot; music, overdone titles, and the hosts having guests in PIP windows arguing at each other.