>>in recent years the vast overuse of the word "so"
It has replaced "like" which drove me batty during the 70's and 80's.

>- awkward constructs in a misguided attempt to appear sophisticated e.g. "most well-known" instead of "best-known"
One of my favorites is "I would argue..."
You would.. but you won't?

>>I don't think there are many editors still working today
But yes, technology has a way of eliding gatekeepers.
Some gatekeepers added value, but most were (are) self-aggrandizing stodgy defenders of the status quo and won't be missed.

Things have definitely changed. A few years ago it was unthinkable that the NYT would contain grammatical errors and I find them regularly now- but the sun rises and sets every day, grammatical errors notwithstanding.