The press are the common factor in all these things and although they may say otherwise for political correctness, they are secretly hoping what they report on stirs up the right kind of feeling so they can continue reporting on the story.
But it is not just that, for everything a political activist does, they depend wholely on the media, as reported actions are the publicity they crave. Without the media, would there be any point doing what they do, I expect not as it will then be akin to disagreeing in the prescence of other disagree'ers, the ones that are the intended to offend won't know, so a waste of time and the very real possibility no cops or press around activist might get a beating by public or police.
But seeing as we all crave this kind of negativity, we fuel the media by buying what they sell and in turn promote the activist to act, we are the key here, send the message that we are not interested and the media will find other things to poke, but the activist is denied an audience.