Which is it?
Tom,
Your comment here - "Interest groups on all sides of the political spectrum have learned to exploit this "parrot syndrome," realizing that they can have the most outlandish bullshit spread across the national media without any filtration whatsoever. " would seem to negate your prior one - "The mainstream media isn't even pretending to be objective any more."
Which is it? Journalists are liberal and so give free ride to Democrats, or journalists are lazy and so give free ride to everyone.
Inquiring minds need to know........
Cheers,
Tony