Journalistic scavenger work attracts lowest sort:

Manufacturers of news who feed on every morsel of carcass 

“The Famous Ferguson Case”: a film imitates life.

Contemporary life imitates 90-year-old art.

Leading into the film are these notes (minor edit): “A Standard dictionary defines news as: ‘Fresh information concerning something that has taken place.’”

“But quite frequently events occur that by their nature are so sensational—from the angle of sex, violence, the standing of the parties involved, or what not—that they are reported in some newspapers long after there is any ‘fresh information’; and when nothing at all ‘has recently taken place.’”

“Legitimate newspapers recognize this fact: they report real developments and stop there. But others, pandering to the lowest tastes of the public, prolong such cases to the last degree.

“When news fails, they try to make news. As long as a shred of carcass remains, they feast upon it.”

… Such “journalistic scavenger work attracts only the lowest type of newspaper man [or woman]—tipsters, stool pigeons, the base and the irresponsible.

“‘The Famous Ferguson Case’ is built upon the contrast between legitimate journalism and unprincipled scandalmongering.”

Film notes

“The Famous Ferguson Case” was a 1932 film in which yellow journalism, scandalmongering descends on a town in Upstate New York after a prominent resident (a wealthy financier) is killed.

The film’s director is Lloyd Bacon; writers Courtney Terrett (story) (adaptation & dialogue), Harvey F. Thew (adaptation & dialogue), and Granville Moore (adaptation & dialogue). Among the lead actors are Joan Blondell, Grant Mitchell, Vivienne Osborne, Tom Brown, Leon Ames, Antoinette ‘Toni’ Martin https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022876/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl

In contemporary times, this film, released more than ninety years ago, has a familiar ring.