Certainly you must be right that noise is increasing faster than signal, but signal is still growing massively if you look at research being done, etc.

Also, not to be ignored, as stated, is our ability to find knowledge is making the filtering process far better than before.

Sure, an ancient library didn't contain a lot of celebrity gossip, but good luck finding what you need amongst the available works - sans anything but the librarian's best remembrance of what a book contains and its value.