why compile themselves? well, the reason i compile myself is, i don't trust people. i especially don't trust people when it comes to money. i take it you didn't see the latest rash of exchanges/pools to go down because of a rootkit inserted into DaFuqCoin's wallet source code? same can happen very easily with pre-compiled wallets.
the root kit wallets require the wallet to be compiled as root, which is a big no-no.
compiling your own wallet is just another step towards keeping your coins safe. in the crypto world, it appears you can't be too safe.
You're right about the news bit. I never really thought about people inserting malicious code into the source. So the rootkit could be compiled as root and then remain active while distributed?