Because people use "news" articles as a type of fashion. A fancy watch isnt' better at telling time, but it does signal both an alliance to a certain ideology,

Because people use "news" articles as a type of fashion. A fancy watch isnt' better at telling time, but it does signal both an alliance to a certain ideology, and the ability to display that alliance. Rolex isn't optimizing for time accuracy anymore, they're optimizing for that type of social signaling. Similarly, science journalism (and really, all journalism) isn't optimizing for dissemination of information, they're optimizing themselves as a fashion/signal.