Hey, they're writers, what d'ya want from them?
I think that the overwhelming percentage of "reporters" are people who want to write books for a living, and are either too limited, talent-wise, or too lazy, to do so.
They aren't fighters at all. They want to sit at a desk, type words into a computer, and make a comfortable living doing so.
They don't realize that the profession of "journalist" is one of the most demanding; it requires a lot of courage, character, and energy to get the story that no one wants you to get. That is, after all, what the public would actually pay for.
Or maybe they do realize it, just too late. By the time they realize it, they've got no other career options; they're locked in to their path. Ta-da! Another mediocre hack journalist is born. After a few years, they're just re-writing press releases from the DNC and sending them off to their editors under their own by-line. Of course, the RNC produces press releases too, but hey, they're biased, you know?
Pretty much the run down of what I’d experienced directly from reporters.