Even if Mel muttered some crap while he was in his drunken stupor, it still doesn't warrant the amount of media "fluffing" (a term from the porn industry) given the incident.
One has to read between the lines and ask what media wants to achieve. Lord knows, the Kennedy crashes, (2 times in a week) was a much bigger story, with much more "covering up" than this Gibson incident, yet it didn't raise any eyebrows at the NYT's. No biased "journalism" (if you can call what's written on that waste of forrest products that) there, no sir.
One has to read between the lines and ask what media wants to achieve...
Uh, he's a movie star -- actually, the richest actor in the history of show biz -- and a formal sex symbol involved in a scandal. They hope to sell papers and advertising.