The excessive coverage of the scandal signals that the news media may have finally hit/reached 'the bottom of the barrel'.
Salaries in the industry are scraping/hitting 'the bottom of the barrel'. [=salaries in the industry are very low]
Several people have lost their jobs recently, so the office isn't exactly a 'barrel of laughs' these days.
(..) other for hours. Nothing new. Then they heard the gun go off. Both barrels. A crime of passion. Yeah. Just look at all the passion on that wall. This is a done deal. (..)1995 Se7en