We are back in the Inquisition mentality. The art of making somebody look good or bad is a skill of puppeteers, the media.
Puppeteers know their territory, their crowds and their topics.
They know the limits of human gullibility. Therefore they will never try to demonize somebody generally well known. But on less familiar ground, preconceptions flourish easily and politicians, media, criminals, take advantage of this. Given a sympathetic ear, people are encouraged to lie because it pays. In such a climate accusation is taken as religious dogma.