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.
(..) Good boy! Thank you. Want to play ball? Yeah? Yeah, good boy. Big barrel roll. Good boy! All right, boy! Come on, Willy! Go, Willy! Go on back down! (..)1993 Free Willy