AP's 'Sprawling' Vocabulary

"Sprawling" AP news:

When AP and other media write about the Navajo Nation, reporters often use the word "sprawling."
If your flesh crawls everytime you read these articles, here's why.
Read the definition below from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary. The word sprawling refers to spreading carelessly and awkwardy, without restraint.
Reporters don't say that "Arizona is sprawling."
The word sprawling does not mean large. When used to refer to tribal lands, it is an insult. Reporters often use the word to refer to other tribal lands, including the Tohono O'odham.
Here's the definition:
1 a archaic : to lie thrashing or tossing about b : to creep or clamber awkwardly
2 : to lie or sit with arms and legs spread out
3 : to spread or develop irregularly or without restraint (bushes) (sprawling)transitive verb : to cause to spread out carelessly or awkwardly (sprawled)

Here's an example in today's news:

By Felicia Fonseca -- Associated Press
CHINLE, Ariz. (AP) - With only about 80 jail beds on the sprawling 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation, authorities increasingly face a quandary ...