Hard to say what the takeaway or lesson is here, other than having trustworthy professionals disseminating unbiased information is a public good and losing it creates paranoia and social distrust everywhere.

We didn't "lose" it, we never had it. It's extremely difficult to rigorously analyze and present data. Even the smartest professionals are mostly consensus machines outside maybe a very niche expertise that they've spent decades on. That is before we get to the institutional interests of the places where these professionals work.