OK, thanks for the comments. I was going to write a letter to the editor of the NY Times (as opposed to what I already sent), but instead I will probably sort of take John's advice and write a letter to the weekly newsletter, EOS, of the American Geophysical Union. This would not appear for several weeks, if at all.....but it would get the point across.

John.....I had always planned on sending an email to SCEC (McRaney, Benthien, and SCECinfo....I'll spare Jordan) about arranging for news organizations to have contact information for people who are expert in different issues...and try to put a stop to the scale of misinformation. I'll get around to this eventually....Don't let me slack off here.
Chris