That's exactly why they use averages, though. Propaganda is insidious in that way.

I think the simpler answer (and thus more likely) is that statistics education in the US is very bad (they should teach stats in high school, not calculus), and reporters just don't understand it. And the ones who do, believe (correctly) that their audience does not understand it.

The whole way media treats numbers is more than tiring:

"X increased by Y"

Sure... but:

- What's the relative increase? - Is this increase out of the ordinary? Annually? Globally?

But I don't think this is some sort of conspiracy. Rather: Most journalists are not very smart.