Back in the days people by default assumed that Bitcoin was a scam or ponzi scheme, which has drastically shifted with how people are using to find out what Bitcoin really is.
If the mainstream audience starts picking up on Bitcoin positively, the media outlets follow the trend and start hyping it up. It works both ways though. In good or bad times, their only motive is to generate income.
Bitcoiners are too easily triggered into thinking that the entire world is against them. Relax.
Exactly, I still remember a lot of garbage post early 2017 and portraying bitcoin in a negative way and even Gold fanboy websites is also attacking crypto at every angle. And they quickly shifted the tone when the massive bull run started getting a lot of clicks on them in return and generated a lot of income. LOL. Perhaps the criminals stop using bitcoins when the law enforcement started to clamp down on them and scanning every blockchain transaction for evidence. Most of them might be using privacy coins though, at but least the stigma that bitcoin is being used by criminals have been cleared by authorities, so its a welcoming news.