The US mainstream press has rarely been more than a non-analytical echo chamber for US policy, or worse yet, has/had an agenda of it's own (Hearst... Murdoch) What good is a press that merely repeats what the government says? A press that gives equal credence to two sides no matter how ridiculous one (or both) might be? A press that only bares it's teeth for scandal no matter how inconsequential? A press beholden to advertisers over readers?
At least now, we have variety at our fingertips if we wish, but it's hard not to be cynical about any of it. I personally think that Google News has been the best thing to happen to news in this century as at least we can now easily get a (theoretically) random sampling of all kinds of coverage, flawed though that coverage may be. It makes it a little easier for the critical reader to figure out what's really going on.