I don't know how to break this to you without sounding crazy, but the news is propaganda. They intentionally create incorrect headlines knowing that most people only read the headline. It is intentional misinformation. The underlying research that is hidden in the body of text no one reads is just there for plausible deniability. When they get called out for lying the apologists come out to defend them with "this is what they meant, they just accidentally misunderstood".

It's a strategy, and it works.