Except that the purpose of the phrase “fake news” was, in fact, to create propaganda itself. It is certainly not better for the president of the country to be the gatekeeper of truth based on what aligns with their political motivations. It is the very definition of propaganda.
It was journos who started the "fake news" meme. I believe they were complaining about completely fabricated clickbait like "Pope endorses Trump". The journos were seemingly unaware that their own perceived fakeness would be much more salient.
Either way its always been a factor, and was likely worse before the age of information.
The big problem now is there are multiple competing false narratives, instead of just the one in the paper.