I think these articles are written mostly so that the scientific community can officially hear about who is up to what- not for the average person out there wondering where we came from. Science is an industry just like any other, more often than not they are financially motivated. They distribute press releases, aim to be cited in other papers, apply for grants, get paid to give talks, work towards launching theories (read: book deals).

As a species, I don't think we're even ready for the answers to any of the scientific and philosophical questions we've been asking since the beginning of time anyway.