Some screwballs have more compassion on a microbe than people.
Our local stations are the worst for picking stuff up off the wires and running with it without checking sources. I can only surmise the locals have an abundance of airtime to fill and will plug in almost anything without deligent research. I can’t even explain why The Tennessean ran it. I used to work for a nonprofit. We would send out press releases that would be regurgitated by the local media almost word for word. Nobody checked for accuracy or sources. They just ran with it.