The problem is that the US doesn't really have news anymore. It used to be that in order to get a broadcasting licence, a station had to devote part of its programming each day towards the public good. Most stations opted for news to fill the gap. News was never about making profit, it was just the cost of doing business in order to operate a radio or TV station. It did end up becomign a point of pride within the industry to have what was considered to be thorough, unbiassed and factual reportage. News reporters were held to certain journalistic standards and a station could get into serious trouble if those standards were violated.
All that ended when Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act and basically deregulated the industry. News now became part of the entertainment package and it had to sell. Investigative reporters were fired and replaced with talking heads. Serious, in-depth studies of complex issues were replaced with car chases, Hollywood gossip, and News of the Weird stories all designed to appeal to the lizard brain in people. It has to be kept short, simple and titilatitng or shocking in order to keep the attention of the idiot masses.
Instead of investigative journalism and field reporters, we get "experts" who sit in a room with other "experts" and pontificate or get into screaming matches. Blood, T&A, and hyperbolic rhetoric long on solipsism and short on content is what sells.
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