I can pretty much explain to people not knowledgeable about Bitcoin what it is and in layman terms how it works so they 'get it'.
When you try and talk about Alts and explain that some are like Bitcoin but are not Bitcoin or even terms like contracts on the blockchain, tokens, POS, platforms etc I never fail to see their eyes glaze over and look bewildered and/or bored. I sometimes manage to get over the concept of coins like XMR or ZCASH - they can understand the difference between public and private blockchain info.
I think this is the issue with 'mainstream media'.
However, there are platforms out there on the cusp of providing genuine, disruptive offerings with mass reach and mass appeal - as with biometric scanning, VR headsets and AI the 'mainstream media' will scream and shout about it then. Don't plan on the media shouting about the platform you researched to be the best out there - it's not rational or coherent.
I think there's another reason for that, though. That is, perhaps the journalists are afraid to make news on alts since it's hard to know about which alt to talk. You may say that it's not a problem, one can simply choose top 5 on coinmarketcap. But don't forget that eth is #2 but still there are many people who say it's a scam overvalued coin. Perhaps, the media doesn't want to risk its reputation.