It's chicken & egg. The networks want ratings & focus groups & the like seem to suggest people want the news they get. Chicken & egg perhaps . . .

Also, I don't think the word "shit" made it as newsworthy as the fact that it was an off-the-cuff remark to an ally. The angle I saw was 'Bush unscripted'. Politicians often make the news if they're talking frankly when they don't know they're being recorded. The communications directors, hacks & handlers try to have everything scripted nowadays.