M.D. Still wrote:

Why are all the talk show hosts so adamant about getting us hammered even more?  Hell's bells, they weren't this hard on Penn State.

Collective ignorance of the audience.  After spending 10 years out of this state I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of the country has no clue where Mississippi is on the map much less anything about Ole Miss.  That said they are quick to pile on and point out how awful it is in Mississippi when they have never set foot in our state.  My next door neighbor in KC for example grew up in King City, MO.  That town is about the size of Taylor for reference and about as culturally developed as Starkville.  As we got to know each other better he made the comment that it must be awful where I grew up with people being backwards, uneducated, etc.  I asked him if he had ever been to Mississippi and of course he had not.  However I had already been to King City several times by then for work and had gotten to know the landscape fairly well so I countered with this:  "You seem to have a great understanding of my home state of Mississippi but have never been there at any point in your life to see for yourself.  On the other hand I have been to where you grew up and I can tell you there is nothing in our state remotely close to as backwards as your hometown.  The difference?  I have been to both and can actually and factually compare."
That was a defining point in our friendship and from that moment on he was very interested in getting to know about Mississippi and by default Ole Miss.  See I challenged his ignorance and stereotypical thinking.  He's a very smart guy and his intelligence failed him in allowing him to assume that nothing could be as bad as Mississippi.  
Same thing goes for talk show hosts.  They play on the ignorance of their audience to drive home a narrative.  Then when ratings/viewership drop they stoke the flames by creating drama.  Same thing ESPN does with their talk shows.  Good cop/bad cop.  We just never get the benefit of the good cop....