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.
(..) What are you workin' on? Commissioner, it's Blake. I got two dead witnesses and a lot of questions. Call me whenev... Wait a minute. I'm looking at four barrels of poly-isobutylene. That looks like motor oil right next to it. Jesus! They're not makin' cement. They're makin' explosives. (..)2012 The Dark Knight Rises