That seems to be the point of this article from Tech Central Station.
Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church was the big four networks, CNN, the New York Times, and NPR all rolled into one. To its adherents, the Roman Catholic Church was the only authoritative source of truth about the world. In a Europe populated largely by illiterate, ill-traveled peasants, who could contest the Church's interpretation of anything?
Suddenly. I feel dirty
Although, given some of the vitriol spewed around some blogs at our church leaders, this doesn't really seem all that far off.
