I'm not sure this is unique to that generation. Tabloids have always been like that. It's just been "democratized" so anyone can start it.

Also I note that a lot of "legacy" pretexts for shaming are off the table. It's not done to shame people simply for being gay; that's now acceptable even in Conservative circles. So perhaps the total shame has just been redistributed, somewhat arbitrarily.

(And another thing: this has evolved shame resistant politicians just like antibiotic overuse evolved MRSA)