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Why do I think this way? Because people accept some of what's in those media as the truth, when it isn't the truth. That results in all kinds of problems, IMHO, because of the fact that people act based upon what they believe to be the truth. So, without trying to overstate the case or be melodramatic, I think that they can be dangerous.
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I completely see your point of view, but all you can do is lead a horse to water with the hope that they will look up the non-fiction relevance. Keep in mind that we have a fairly large population who buys
the Enquirer and similar trash and actually BELIEVE what is in there. Sadly, these folks are part of the voting public.
On the media's side however, you will rarely get people flocking to documentaries (Cosmos with Sagan and Jacque Cousteau were flukes, not the norm). For every historical fiction book or movie, you will get a percentage of those folks seeking out what REALLY happened. I just finished
The Australians by William Stuart Long (Vivian Stuart) and learned tons about Australian history - every couple of chapters, I'd be looking up something about persons or events and found that Ms. Stuart was actually a pretty good stickler to the facts of history as known at the time she wrote her stories. Unusually, she appeared to have first presented the history and wove her story and characters around in it. Did she get it all right? Probably not. But, no matter how accurate it is, it is still fiction.
As to categorizing, I put it under
fiction, historical. I consider fantasy to be more extreme - like steampunk, nonhumans, magic, alternative worlds to name a few. Bernard Cornwell, Vivian Stuart, Georgette Heyer, Carolyn Harrod-Eagles and similar have no magic and are narratives placed closely in the history in which they occur. These are folks that made special effort to be historically accurate, but are still fiction.
But, keeping in mind your suggestion Meeera, here is a link to over 5000 historical fiction novels that INCLUDE both non-magic and magic elements:
http://www.historicalnovels.info/