This seems to be common in contemporary journalism, most notoriously in "crime reporting" that is often just rewritten press releases from the police. Trump is

This seems to be common in contemporary journalism, most notoriously in "crime reporting" that is often just rewritten press releases from the police. Trump is an interesting point of comparison; my recollection is that it took years for mainstream outlets to treat his statements with skepticism. There was a period where calling his bald-faced lies "lies" was a hotly-contested ethical issue. Unfortunately, journalism is not free of bias towards the particular incentives that the writers, editors, and publishers are subject to.