Reminds me of a lecture I heard Sam Donaldson give about 12 years ago. Someone in the audience asked him why the media focuses so much on the rat race, talking heads that don't talk about anything of substance, and why everything is breaking news. Donaldson basically said the only way to fix it is if everyone stops tuning in to it; ever since the OJ trial when viewers glommed onto whichever network provided 24/7 coverage of the trial, networks found themselves in a race to the bottom in order to maintain viewership. Anyone that tried to stay above that kind of reporting lost ratings until they followed suit.
I think that's a bit of an oversimplification, but probably true for the last several years. Maybe media has become fragmented enough that some outlets can provide "old-school journalism" and not feel the squeeze.