I think that most people believe that popular science press covers science topics in a way that is simplified but mostly accurate (like the statement "there are

I think that most people believe that popular science press covers science topics in a way that is simplified but mostly accurate (like the statement "there are 86,400 seconds in a day.", which is true enough, neglecting edge cases). The problem is that most popular science, in my experience, fundamentally misrepresents the issues at hand and the stuff that "should be" correct. It's misleading "anti knowledge" in many cases, not just a blurry outline of the topic at hand.