Hales never said that the media was responsible for O' Dea's vacation related, hunting accident.
Rather, he said he was, "Dissappointed in the trial by media."
Not supporting Hales, but he claims that he thought the IPR investigation was initiated. 
A big part of the problem here was that this hunting accident was not a work related shooting. 
The negative presumptions regarding O'Dea come from the Deputy and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife interviews and reports of the hunting accident. 
Since BAL tests were not done on anybody at the campsite, it's difficult to determine how intoxicated people actually were.
How much that impacted O 'Dea's decision to NOT put aside/rest the rifle that was misfiring earlier that day (supposedly) is a key question that has no answer.
Yes, it was negligent, but doubt it was intentional-it was an accident. 
Rather, serendipitously though, the whole PPD has been changed rather quickly and hopefully for the better.