UPDATE (FROM THE COMMENTS):
I think it’s partially – and even mainly – that, but there is another factor at play here: that our current media is incompetent and borderline illiterate.
As Glenn points out over and over, our current journalist class doesn’t know anything. I doubt most of them could find Kiev on a map or read any page of the Federal Register with comprehension. They know absolutely no history, so they don’t know when they are being deceived. They have no practical knowledge, so they don’t know when the government’s statutory or regulatory plans are moronic or harmful.
They chase symbolic stories or “What is your response to yesterday’s statement by X?” stories because that’s all they can do at their level of knowledge. Even if they wanted to pivot to substantive coverage, they couldn’t – because they wouldn’t even know how to begin. It would be like asking a team of four year old children to run a railroad.
Fair point.