I don't think this is right:

"The task of simply staying informed has become extremely difficult."

On the contrary it has gotten easier. It is easier to be better informed now than it was in 1989.

Maybe we have raised the bar on what it means to be informed but it is not harder to achieve the level consider informed per an 1989 standard.

Yes, you get your info from a social media site you will be susceptible to confirmation bias and maybe trapped in a bubble but if you get your new from a aggregator who does not have a profile on you it will be less so. Google, Yahoo, AOL, Bloomberg, API, BBC etc.