One of my pet gripes, as someone with a moderately solid background in science, is that many of these newspeople who write about science may know a moderate amount about reporting, but ususally know very little about science.
Roger that! The sensationalist overstatement in much of their medical coverage is another problem. (Dramatic breakthrough! New miracle cure!) It encourages unrealistic expectations and makes life difficult for health care providers. Then there are the flat-out lies these "reporters" spread, such as the phony correlation between second-hand tobacco smoke and major respiratory disease or all the Chicken Little "global warming" alarmism.