A lot of the problem is laziness but other factors are at work, too.  News has been treated, much to the loss of the American community as a whole, as a product.  Newspapers have seriously cut back on staff.  The smaller staffs have to produce the same output (at least in terms of column inches) and the easiest way is to recycle conventional wisdom, press releases, and other people's stories.  The one exception, both for print and TV, is to treat part of the business like show business.  A few stars rake in huge salaries, paid for by cutting staff.

Sadly, newspapers and chains that try to investigate and provide real news are at a competitive disadvantage.  Knight-Ridder, for example, is in its death throes.  Knight-Ridder is the victim of one (that's right, one) investor who bought a large stake (but nowhere near a majority) and insisted that the chain be sold off because he was disappointed in his return on his investment.  

It was sold and the pieces are being sold off to further more profits by McClatchy.  All I can say about them is that a McClatchy bought the Pittsburgh Pirates and runs them the same way.  despite massive public subsidies in the form of a new taxpayer bought stadium, the Pirates have been unable to even reach mediocrity.  The same can presumably be said for the newspapers.

What else has changed.  The laws have changed.  The barriers that limited ownership to five TV stations, for example, are long since gone.

Murdoch can own more TV stations and also newspapers.  The ban on owning a paper and TV station in the same city also seems gone.  All done by Republican congresses and regulators which were paid back by propaganda-coverage.

Thank God for the net.