Josh Marshall, on why the right-wing press gets it wrong so often:

But as a group, the standards of most institutional right wing journalism are just so appallingly bad that their stories simply aren’t credible. (I’d note that Lake works at either nonpartisan or slightly-progressive leaning pub.) Of course there are exceptions like the Menendez phony escort story. Which, wait, that ended up being a hoax enabled by appalling shoddy reporting standards. Again, if you wonder why conservative scandal mongers can’t have nice things … look at the conservative media.

Also, try finding real scandals.

Don't discount the possibility that getting it right is not the main goal. Most partisan media, left and right, is opinion-giving, not hard reporting. So, most of the right wing media exists simply to entertain, to tell clever variations on the story of Evil Mr. Obama And His Band Of Sinister Lackeys. They don't need to get it right, they just need to entertain. And, if they can create some general FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about the Obama and the left in the process, maybe turn some of the undecideds away from Obama, all the better.

In other words: it's cheerleading.