Positive news does have an impact on prices. Even in bear markets, in my opinion.
However, the impact that positive news has on prices are probably significantly reduced in bear market scenarios simply because of the psychological nature of bearish sentiment circulating around the market. A single piece of news indicating that institutional investors may be interested in something bitcoin related simply isn't enough to spark major increases in prices in a bear market.
This can be observed right now, in this exact bear market. Prices aren't moving despite multiple news coverages that would be considered to be extremely positive within a bull market.
exactly. that's the key that most people don't understand: news is secondary or tertiary to actual market sentiment and overall commitment of traders. that's why good news in bear markets often causes little short squeezes that are just sold into by underwater investors. and then the bleed continues.
i've seen so many people ask, "why isn't price going up? there's so much good news!" and IMO the answer is, "that should actually inform you that we're in a corrective/bear market. so you should expect price to go down, or sideways at best, until the correction is over."