[Pablo64]

I think part of it is because in an effort to draw more viewers in the competitive market, they keep having to make things seem more important and more exciting all the time, to the extent that we are almost to the point of hyperbole in news reporting, and Joe Average Six-pack doesn't know the difference.

(And maybe even those reporting don't know it anymore.)

[epow]

to the extent that we are almost to the point of hyperbole in news reporting,

No "almost" about it. With the exception of Brit Hume's program, most of Fox News channel's "reporting" passed that point long ago.