If you consider yourself a Very Serious Reporter Who Is A Professional and Most Certainly Not A Paparazzi, this is the kind of thing that would be beneath you. Except... Donald Trump isn't a failed developer who calls into daytime talk shows to rant. He's the president.
I think that celebrity gossip mags get this reputation for focusing on style over substance; for publishing loud headlines that grab your attention regardless of the facts of the story; for ignoring the facts if they don't fit the story that sells
News organizations have avoided the *form* of the paparazzi - no loud headlines screaming ANCIENT CELEBRITY MELTS DOWN IN PUBLIC - but they've taken up the function, whether or not they realize it
They publish misleading headlines, they fit events into their preferred narrative, and they ignore contradictory facts
I guess one difference might be - I haven't met any paparazzi, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm skeptical one of them would tell me that I'm in a bubble and failing to understand Real America if I were to challenge their analysis of a story.
The media didn't have any problem running with the Clinton-Lewinsky tabloid stuff.
Reminds me a bit of how the National Enquirer broke the John Edwards mistress story.