What were the press like at the turn of the 19th century?

"Inaccurate" would be an apt term, lol, but how much would vary from paper to paper. The modern equivalent of those papers would be something like the ol' Weekly World News or the National Enquirer. There may have been a factual story at the middle of an article but things were often spruced up for the reader's benefit. Instead of standard National Enquirer references like "..says a pal" or "said his/her friends", people cited in the story would sometimes be described as "a person on whose word we can rely" or "whose word is beyond reproach" as these folks were often people you'd never heard of. For the most part, papers tried to outdo each other in the scoops, even if it meant adding things to the story. This is the time of "yellow journalism", where accuracy wasn't a prerequisite & increasing sales was important above all else.