Why are So Many Media Outlets and Journalists Reporting this Out of Date Stat?

Okay I can’t believe I have to say this again (I’ve talked about it on my Facebook page several times now), but there are at least 3 or 4 media outlets who are now reporting the “70% of Americans think women should be required to take their husband’s names” thing as if it’s current.

These reports are all based on a 2017 article which includes a tiny reference to this "required by law" statistic, which is from a 2011 study that is /based on/ data from 2006. And that statistic based on 2006 data is what is getting blown up into a big issue and pissing everybody off, but really, it's seriously outdated, and I sincerely doubt it is true anymore?

I know this because I literally emailed the author of the 2017 article and she very kindly gave me a copy to read. And then I read the 2011 study (which I found online).

Check your sources, y'all; conclusions based on data gathered in Bush's second term as president are PROBABLY not accurate anymore.

I utterly refuse to post any of these totally inaccurate articles and give them any click throughs. I tried to post a picture of my cat instead but the blog isn’t letting me now so you’ll just have to make do with text-only instead.