Tell or Show?

io9 has an article claiming that A New Hope engages in better world-building than The Phantom Menace. While it does get into some of the usual Prequel-bashing, it does raise a serious question. In the Original Trilogy, we never saw the halls of political power on-camera. They were always off-camera and related by third parties, such as when Tarkin infamously tells the Death Star Committee* that the Emperor had disbanded the Senate. By contrast, with the Prequels, we see the Galactic Senate and we see major events transpire in the Senate, such as when Palpatine introduces the New Order.

Typically, English professors will generally advise that artists and authors should "show, not tell" important events. However, many Star Wars fans feel that the Senate scenes are amongst the weakest in the Prequels. So what's wrong with showing in this case?