We definitely have stories like that in the U.S. Which is why I think a movie like the Belgian
Man Bites Dog is so dryly funny at times.
To what Paul says, though, a lot of people do not know how the media works. And as a result, people give it that third-party "head-in-the-stocks and lets throw tomatoes" treatment. Like many governments get. Some of it is deserved, but only a portion of it. Which makes it difficult to justify much sympathy.
Most media sources have lost their way as a public service. Part of the blame for that also lies with the public, though. If people don't want to read stories that are factual in their world, and prefer stories of sensationalism and fear, that is often what they get. Even take something as innocuous as television weather forecasts in the States (sorry, Andy

) -- a lot more time is spent on disasters elsewhere and getting people worked up about the horrible thing (storm, etc.) that
could have been but never was. And people eat that garbage up, and it sells advertising, and it keeps the private owners of media outlets happy and asking for more of that kind of coverage.
Is this really different than the sensationalism of the William Randolph Hearst era? It's probably
improved in a lot of ways compared to then. I think the difference now is in the greater corporate ownership of media and the responsibility to shareholders. Bottom-line thinking has made networks like CNN shed all of their credible, experienced journalists for aspiring young dolts who will whore themselves to get on the airwaves for $20 a week, a year's supply of hair care products, and in exchange for regular sexual favors for the media company board.
I'm exaggerating, but those are the economics to a large degree now in the States. And so when good, complex stories of politics or science come up, there aren't as many real analysts anymore to put things in context -- who know the broader implications of a story and can convey that. Meanwhile, media consumers have made the problem worse by turning their backs on that kind of in-depth analysis anyway ... generally prefering the junk food of media in car crashes, random shootings, and animal stories.