I think they're doing a good job of writing for the common denominator of their audience. It comes out as trashy writing, because that's what the audience wants. The failure of education is what's taking down journalism.

It's referenced in the movie, Idiocracy, and I think it's even more accurate now. I believe we'll continue to see further increases in grandstanding and violent, partisan rhetoric in journalism and maybe even courts of law until we find a way to turn things around. In the meantime, it's pretty much just a WWE match and the news media are the bombastic commentators.

Parks and Rec has a good analogy for this in "Crazy Ira and the Douche." They're not stupid. They're just talking down to their audience.

Edit: Grammar (I'm aware of the irony. Although, now that I'm aware of it, is it still ironic?)