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I don't think this is an issue of biases at all. Of course there are biases. Journalists should strive for objectivity in their reporting and for the most part this is achieved.
Where the journalism has gone off the rails is the increasing inability (unwillingness) to ask the difficult question. Why is this happening in the US?
I don't have the article to back it up but I remember a journalist that asked a difficult question of Bush Sr. around the time of Gulf War I. Bush dodged the question and the reporter pressed the issue. Bush took umbrage that he was being "hounded" (my word).
The result? The reporter was banned from future press conferences and summarily fired.
Cut off from the information source (ie where you get your scoop) and fired.
The reality is that since WWII the US press has pretty much towed the line as far as access to the white house is concerned. If you want to continue to be invited to their press briefings you don't ask difficult questions. If you can't attend those briefings you don't get the coverage needed to compete with the other journalist (or news organization if you want to take a broader look at this).
Daniel Boorstin wrote a great book that speaks directly to this called The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. Amazingly he wrote it in 1961.
He felt that the US was losing touch with the real world and more importantly the very things that made America strong. He felt that real ideal were being replaced with contrivance... Interesting book.
In the end, what I am getting at, in a rather round about way is that the US is more concerned with the surface of things than digging any deeper. Gloss and good image is everything. In depth is too cerebral and therefore bad.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
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