I don't think the media is lying, but they only tell one side of the story. You can't really blame them, somebody leaks something and what is the media supposed to do? not their job? I blame people for sucking things up without taking it with a grain of salt.
Imagine you're Scott Boras and you are offered 5/100 for said player, but you say NO we want 10/300. You know darn well that's not the other team's final offer but you leak their weak ass starting point offer to the press and they report it and everyone criticizes the team for lowballing said player. Now Boras has leverage. "See, everyone knows your offer is garbage, you better up the anti" You get the other team upping their offer without doing or saying much you're winning the negotiations. Also, the pressure gets put on the team with that level of negative press to get something done. It's a smart move by Boras, he certainly knows how to play Boston fans like a fiddle.
In a way, people who swallow these stories up help inflate player salaries.
I have zero doubt in my mind to some extent the Bogaerts situation was messed up, and they deserve a LOT of strife for it, maybe even some firings should be in order. but everything we know is what has come out from Boras's side. Using the Sox opening offer they brought on day one to the negotiating table to put them down is just stupid. I would like to apologize to everyone for not being a Boras stooge who likes to regurgitate what he leaks to the press.