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.
(..) and steal all his food. We're brothers of the Night's Watch, not thieves. The day we leave, Craster will tap a barrel of our wine starving in the snow. He's a bloody wildling is all he is. Never knew Bannen could smell so good. (..)2013 TvShow: Game of Thrones Title: And Now His Watch Is Ended Season: 3 Episode 4