Car Chases

Since when have car chases become so important that they supersede all other news on TV?  The local stations will literally broadcast them live for hours.  Nothing else happened today that was more important than chasing a couple of people in a car?  For this you send a helicopter?  I suppose what they are hoping for is that they can be broadcasting live when someone gets shot or blown up.  Usually the suspects are not even known to the chasers (both police and media).  Sometimes someone suspects they were involved in a crime prior to the chase.

That brings me to another point.  Why do we get more speculation on the TV news than actual news?  Talking heads are constantly asking each other what they "think" is happening.  The press will grasp at the tiniest slivers of straws.  Here is a current example:

Now A) why do we care, and B) is that really a news story?  It is reported that the sound of the letter "d" slipped from her lips.  Now it's all over the news.

To be honest, if I were a forgotten political prisoner somewhere or if my city was currently being burned to the ground, I think my heart would break to know that the attention of a "super power" was focused on a white car that may contain criminals being followed by helicopters in case something exciting happens.  How long did the television news show live shots of a cabin burning down because there may or may not have been a shooter of policemen in it?