Lol
Yep, that’s about the time frame.
Yep, brainwashed folks on the right firmly believe the phenomenon is entirely due to the leftward drift of the media (along with the progressive degeneration of society/culture). They imagine themselves as the suffering stalwarts, valiantly standing for the “truth” and against all the dissipation towards chaotic change, “liberal values”, etc.
Of course there has been change. And it’s true that better educated folks, who tend to end up in the media, are often less conservative. However, this conservative narrative, never mostly accurate, has become increasingly mythologic, or false. An all too easy reflexively used tool to dismiss anything they want to oppose as “liberal” and often now completely regardless of fact or truth.
And yes, the rise of conservative talk radio and later Fox News has contributed greatly to the rise of this characteristic conservative mythology.
And now we have a freaking president openly admiring and emulating dictators who oppress the truth as “fake news” and labeling journalists as “enemies of the people”. This is incredibly alarming and a great tragedy. And mostly facilitated by lying Republicans/conservatives and the false narratives they and their complicit media have peddled too successfully for too long.