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.
(..) - We should have a few more meetings... - ... before we even talk about prescriptions. - Look, I'm having panic attacks. Other night, I thought I was having a heart attack. I puked in a barrel on the way over. I haven't slept for fucking weeks. - Is that true? - Yeah, that's true. (..)2006 The Departed