Re: What I cannot understand ...
"but there he is still, basking in the attention he so craves at our expense."
The press can't afford to ignore stuff like that because if they don't carry the story, someone else will and they lose readers/viewers/listeners. The UK Govt tried to restrict the press on interviews with the IRA and their ilk, and that failed spectacularly. Even the BBC, often accused of being government lackeys, simply got voice actors in to "speak" the words, often with the skill of an impressionist. IIRC, that escalated to "not showing images of IRA people", so the news, including the BBC, just filmed the interview backlit as a silhouette, neatly skirting the restrictions and staying within the law, making the Government look stupid.
There's nothing like deflating an ego, but the press will not be party to it unless it's them doing the deflating.