The news media is a business, and they need to get good ratings to make money. To do that they present drama and controversy. TV news is more entertainment than information. It takes a while, but you have to really dig to find the news outlets which present more information with minimal attempts at influence and dramatization.

Recommend reading "The Age of Propaganda" by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson. It is a good education on techniques used by and in the media to influence. Once you understand the techniques of influence, they do not work as well on you; sort of an inoculation. Then you become better at assessing the veracity of reporting. A good understanding of the business of news media will also aid tremendously so you can know more about access and agendas.