In the case of the original "Lynch Story", I think you'll find that it was a case of the "embed reporters" getting a whiff of "the Rambo story" -- which served their 'women in combat' agenda -- and pressing the Pentagon briefers & theater PA officers for details that just weren't forthcoming in the jumble of the offensive into Iraq. The Press had egg on their faces when the story eventually blew up.
I think this is major case of blame-shifting on the part of the Media. The story was already unraveling when Lynch was recovered, so the criticism extended to the negative characterization of the rescue operation. (I wonder what they would have written had we taken casualties getting her back? Probably would have called that a screw-up, too.)