Yes, there were lots of well meaning, but ultimately wrong people spreading their opinions. There were very few people spending the effort to vet and otherwise

Yes, there were lots of well meaning, but ultimately wrong people spreading their opinions. There were very few people spending the effort to vet and otherwise ensure reliability of the information provided, the best you could do was university professor websites. This was in strict contrast to the expectations the public had for published media at the time. Public expectations with respect to publishers is vastly diminished these days. It may be hard to remember a time when it was broadly trusted. Of course there were groups that "knew" this trust was misplaced, but the tide didn't turn in earnest until the Iraq war.