It is real. It Happened. And it mattered. There used to be something called JOURNALISM. It was a noble "Fourth Estate". There was no concept of anything called "fake news". Cronkite was the "most trusted man in America" and the Times & Post were paragons of integrity. Newspapers were actually "a thing".
Add to that landscape: axe murders; international monetary manipulation; a small-town police department; Congressional corruption; insane religious...