Remember, the purpose of journalism is to make money - news is a product like any other. A story people aren't as interested in anymore is a story that doesn't make as much revenue.
You're ignoring the role of the state and intelligence agencies in shaping the media and what's reported. If you look at any war, conflict, theory about adversaries, etc. - the news in Western (and equivalently any other region) mainstream media is almost always completely aligned with the government positions and the position of the 'intelligence community' (CIA/NSA). So, yeah media/news is strongly driven by profit, but the ability for the organization to exist and continue to make profit is very dependent on having the right political alignment/spin.
To make money is the purpose of journalism as much as eating or breathing are the purpose of your life, i.e. they are not.
They're just the bare necessity that needs to be done to continue to exist so that you can do more 'important' things (see Maslow hierarchy).