This answers some questions

As one who has been the victim of shockingly ignorant journalists, this article in the NY Times answers some of the questions of why. The rubrics for marking essays in the SAT Essay Test reward length over everything. Students aren't penalized for incorrect "facts." "Well-written" and "accurate" aren't even near to being synonyms. As a high school English teacher, it reminds me that if I don't take off for spelling, punctuation and other grammar errors, my students will consider it a waste of time writing correctly.