I suspect I became cynical about the press a lot younger than most other people. In my teens during the Vietnam War, I was hearing about the war directly from people who had been on the ground in theater — long family associations with the military, friends and family on active duty from NCOs to full colonels/Navy captains, all provided sources that were at the very least not seeing the same thing as was being reported.
Later, when I was active in the Intelligence Community and cleared, I would see things authoritatively reported in the press that I knew weren’t true. I’m not sure that the specific examples I recall have been de-classified even yet, but here’s an analogy: Newsweek reported that Elbownia had no defensive cream-pie capability and wouldn’t for five years, but I, out in the field at an intercept site, had that week observed the Elbownians perform a successful cream-pie interception.
Newsweek had authoritative anonymous sources who, being anonymous, were unquestionable.
The lesson, of course, is not to trust anonymous sources. Ever.
President Trump made a similar point recently and, of course, the usually-outraged press were outraged.