These kind of stories are used because they do work with the low information voter.
I know some elderly people who think if something is reported or shared on network news that is it authentic gospel information. Not saying elderly people are all like this by no means.
Hey, you can't expect them to care about this unimportant stuff when it takes away from their american idol and twilight saga DVD watching time. Obama said he's fixing it, so it's fixed.
They come from an era when you could generally trust the media. You know, like when the press was briefed about military matters in World War II but would not go to press with it until after the operation had begun.