silly season

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun idiomatic A period of time, as during a holiday season or a political campaign, in which the behavior of an individual or group tends to become uncharacteristically frivolous, mirthful, or eccentric.
• noun idiomatic, journalism A period, usually during the summertime, when news media tend to place increased emphasis on reporting light-hearted, offbeat, or bizarre stories.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a time usually late summer characterized by exaggerated news stories about frivolous matters for want of real news