The function of the press in society is to inform, but its role in society is to make money.
The news is the one thing the networks can point to with pride. Everything else they do is crap, and they know it.
When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.
If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.
If you don't get newspapers straight, you'll believe half the world is under water and half is on fire.