I would guess the amount of time people spend consuming media over those decades has increased, and that people trust the media they choose to listen too.
Imagine someone says "the media in general is not trustworthy" and everyone nods in agreement. "But the media we listen too is good", again everyone nods in agreement. Then gradually, everyone realizes they all listen to different media. What do they do now? They mostly keep quiet and retreat into their own media bubble.
How many hours have you spend watching political content the last month? How many hours have you spent engaged in calm and respectful talk with someone who would challenge your beliefs? Do you even have someone you can disagree with in a calm and respectful way? Are you able to disagree in a calm and respectful way?
Not sure where I'm going here, just a train of thought. I've been thinking about how I can get more of my "news" from people who I can actually talk to (not necessarily in person). I'm tired of political commentary where, if I have a question, I can't do anything, the talking head keeps going, skipping over any counter points that might be raised. Why am I listening to people who wont listen to me? How can I find people to listen to who will also listen to me in return?