I agree with your take on newspapers: they try and capture the attention of a layman audience. As such, their work can be simplified to the point of impropriety from time to time.

I'm less inclined to agree with your opinion on academic research, however. Systems of peer review--and softer systems, like those of repute amongst colleagues--are in place for the express purpose of eliminating biases and errors across research works.

In the social sciences, there is a great amount of care that goes into ensuring that: 1. Data is handled properly 2. Future inquiries are sound

Whether or not that care happened in this body of work is up for debate.