I used to feel the same way, but I think there's some value in simplifying or making scientific ideas more attractive.

The avg tax payer is not interested in obscurity for the sake of accuracy. This is a flaw of the human mind, but something to be exploited rather than resisted when conveying complex ideas.

Of course there should be subtleties mentioned in these articles, but for a headline? I think it's ok to get people excited.

*I'm aware that evolution in particular is poorly misunderstood by some sections of the public, and anthropomorphism in this case may be worse than the general case I'm talking about.