Before that the vast majority of the news stories identified Rotties. Before that, Dobermanns. Before that, "German Shepherd Police Dogs".
The news media (and on FR we generally don't think highly of them, do we?) default is that any dog involved in an attack is a "pit bull". A story that was posted here last year claimed a "pit bull" savaged a child . . . the correction (which was hardly noticed) revealed that it was a Lab. Ordinarily everybody's go-to friendly breed.
Selective breeding and abusive training can make the offspring of a Golden Retriever into killers. And if the word somehow got out to the thugs that Goldens were the tough dog of choice, within a few years you would see reports of maulings by Goldens, thanks to the efforts of said thugs to breed and 'train' killers.
Any large dog can be dangerous, the supposedly "safe" breeds included. But nobody wants to contemplate that, so they dump everything on a hazy and poorly identified type - not even a breed - rather than the idiots and gangstas that create vicious dogs. It's always easier to go after property than criminals.