LAT's two themes

The LAT's news coverage lately seems to have two themes, neither of which is accurate. The first is that the Republican party is divided. It is, but no more so than Democrats. The second is that the economy is in terrible shape. There's no evidence it is, only that growth has slowed. So far as the stock market is concerned, it's down, but only to the level it was at in April 2007. Do reporters sit around newsrooms discussing these things and concluding they are "facts" without hearing dissenting opinions?