Back in the day people used to read different newspapers or magazines. There were niche newspapers like there are niche sites now. Not really much difference exact access is immediate, rather than days or weeks.
I think their miscalculation came from assuming that people would just accept a google search as the "right" answer.
What happened is people still want to go with what works. The ultimate natural authority is a person who tells you what to do, and it works.
Bidan using, for example, the DOJ or Fauci to force his authority is the exact opposite of what people seek. Not going to end well. If Bidan did shit that worked we wouldn't be watching the clusterfuck we have going on now.