I'm not so sure that's true as much as we were more naive.
Journalism, along with spying, is among the most oft-mentioned as being the world's "second oldest profession" behind prostitution.
Journalism and spying are very similar, since both are about gathering and reporting information. The earliest "reporters" may have effectively been "spies" more or less. But the earliest reporters may also have been itinerant "gossips", essentially.
I can imagine, back in pre-recorded history when human civilization was mostly a bunch of small, independent clans and tribes, that there were individuals who, for whatever reasons, began to wander between groups, offering information about where the herds were and where the fruit was ripening, and what the other clans/tribes were up to, in exchange for food and shelter.
Humans being what they are, it probably didn't take very long for a few of these itinerant reporters to figure out that they might receive better meals and accommodations by cleverly editing and embellishing their tales to make the otherwise merely concerning sound absolutely terrifying, to portray the ordinary activities of other humans in a way to make them seem like the acts of gods or monsters ... and so forth. And also by including titillating detail about who was sleeping with whom in the next village over.
Thus was the profession of Journalism born.
And thus, the origin of the traditional epic tales of mythical heroes and villains, deities and devils from stories told in front of the campfire - the beginning of the evening news.
I can also imagine the effect on those tales when tribal chieftains, and other "wealthy" and powerful leaders, figured out how such tales might be "customized" to further bolster their own reputations and power. Thus, "journalism" also acquired features of prostitution.
I can also imagine that, after millennia of this grand and glorious oral tradition, the "journalists" of the time fought tooth-and-nail to discredit those who embraced the new technology of ... writing ... probably calling it "fake news" propagated by amateurs.
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
