...although I share John Oliver's concerns, it's worth pointing out that the old media model had significant problems as well.

Print newspapers have always made most of their money from advertising--not from subscriptions.  (This is something John Oliver does point out, but only in the context of bemoaning how print advertising revenue has declined.)

Television news makes 100 percent of their revenue from advertising.

The result of this model is that historically mass media has always presented a view of the world which is very friendly towards business.

The problems of wealthy businessmen owning newspapers, and the subtle pressures to adjust the news so as not to harm the parent company, is not something unique to the digital age--that was a huge problem in the 20th Century as well.