I suspect that part of the reason that "as traffic rises, the quality of journalism is dropping" is because the types of articles that increase "engagement" appeal to the type of person who doesn't value quality literature, spelling, grammar, or story telling. And so it becomes a downward spiral.

Here in Australia, news.com.au is the main offender. The subject matter of their stories is ridiculous, and the quality of the writing doesn't even classify as journalism.

But it won't change. Society is happy with what they're being fed.

The people that value quality storytelling and journalism are writing (and reading) books.