As much as I complain about the relatively low status of science and science writing, it could be worse. As Kevin Drum reminds us, media treatment of economic issues is even more toxic:
Question for the folks who populate our newsrooms: Why is it that a 0.8% rise in inflation, the biggest since 1991, is huge, headline news, while a 0.8% decline in wages, the biggest since 1990, is only barely worth mentioning? In a newsroom with some connection to the normal world, wouldn't it be the other way around?
So, um, I guess it could be worse...
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A large part of the problem is that reporting in general, not just science reporting, is getting increasingly sloppy. A probably related trend is that mainstream media reporters increasingly identify with the elite and not with ordinary folks. These two factors account for why many people, myself included, have turned to blogs as a news source: the writing is at least as good (often better), and there is a "show your work" ethic that lets the reader look at the sources for the story.
Thus reporters will report the inflation number because they can see its effects--any idiot with a halfway decent memory can tell that retail prices have increased significantly this year. The decrease in wages is harder for them to see because they personally are not directly affected by it, at least in the short term. (In the longer term, when they are laid off because not enough people are able and willing to buy the fishwrap that employs them, they are no longer reporters and therefore don't get to write the story for the newspaper.
I don't think reporting in general is getting any sloppier than it has always been. Maybe there are just more ways a typical reader/viewer can get other information, so missing or misleading stories are easier to identify.
Well... It is not good either, I mean, it always could be worse... Always...*eerie mood*