Right! It is mostly the media making them look bad. And it is mostly the governments setting things up so that the media has an excuse to talk the way they do.
Before the proliferation of the social media, the MSM could easily topple / install governments. Perfect examples are the 2004 Indian elections and the 2008 POTUS elections. However, the situation has changed now. Popularity of MSM is on the wane, and large number of young people get their news from the social media.