The big news outlets need to start covering science stories properly or stop covering them at all!

[Locut0s]

I like reading science articles and news of new discoveries and breakthroughs. I frequent phys.org and other such sites, subscribe to Scientific American and the like, occasionally read a paper if it's not too impenetrable. I'm not a scientist by any means, though I wanted to be one, just a somewhat well educated fan.

The way the big news outlets covers science has always bothered me but I really find myself tearing my hair out when I see several horrible stories in a row.

I'm certainly not expecting them to read the abstracts from papers or anything. I totally get that their audience is the average person and they need to approach things from that perspective. But for fucks' sake please at least get (1) your facts straight and (2) the tone of the article straight.

Why is it not acceptable to report on, say, the stock market and say "well it appears the Dow Jones has dropped 300 points and experts tell me that means that you are likely to be starving tomorrow". But similar such nonsense and hyperbole are par for the course for science stories. They discovered water might have flowed on mars,

LIFE DISCOVERED ON MARS

a new particle has been discovered that seems to be the elusive higgs boson that scientists have been theorizing about:

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER PROOF OF GOD AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

a single child may possibly have been cured of HIV through novel and heroic methods:

AIDS CURED!

I know that sensationalism IS par for the course for big news outlets but usually they are still somewhat constrained to facts. When it comes to news stories I have a sneaking suspicion that they tell reporters to actually act much dumber than they really are, "you know so joe blow at home doesn't feel we are talking down to them". Some of the questions I've heard reporters ask on these stories, I wonder how they keep a straight face.