I think another factor is that these days many, many people see themselves as 'activists' and that they are doing some great public service to sway the world to whatever they view as the 'greater good'. Based on the public interaction I've observed with people on one side of the political spectrum and (in far greater visibility) on social media observations: values, character and integrity has been superseded by activism. One can no longer make a reliable assumption that a "scientist" is objective nor follows scientific methods rigorously.