A lot of this in media is scientific laziness on the author&#x27;s part. Which I admit is partially science&#x27;s fault in saying &quot;the facts speak for themselves&quot; and failing to engage in a responsible manner (e.g. Sagan, Nye, or Tyson).<p>But I feel as though at some point in journalism school, it&#x27;s drilled into students never to say &quot;this thing is, and I stand behind it.&quot;<p>Instead, we get either the global negative (&quot;People who are not me say this thing is&quot;) or an artificial alternative (&quot;Some say this thing is, others hold this [uncredible but nevertheless presented] view&quot;).<p>Scientists issue retractions all the time - that&#x27;s how the process works. Media should be comfortable with the same when it&#x27;s interfacing on science questions.