"American Media" is only a label for the most prominent examples, I.E. the "Mainstream" we all keep hearing about. Elsewhere, many of these stories were picked

"American Media" is only a label for the most prominent examples, I.E. the "Mainstream" we all keep hearing about. Elsewhere, many of these stories were picked up early, however these days, The Media has an "over-the-shoulder" syndrome in which they keep looking at what others are doing and try to beat them at the ratings. There's also a prevailing trend to crowdsource journalism E.G. CNN's iReport. And we can see the results of the unfiltered variety with that Reddit misidentified bomber debacle. Lesser controversies easily slip through without much backlash. This is nothing new, of course. The soapboxes are now digital and the speaking trumpets are in geosynchronous orbit.