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I think that most of the confusions about almost anything, not just black holes, is created by non-adequate presentations of the scientific facts and theories...
The attempts to explain those things in simplistic terms, inevitably means that only some parts of essential information is passed to the non-suspecting reader who does not necessarily have the adequate math skills to fully understand the issue. This is a potential problem for anyone today, regardless of the level of education, who is not employed full time in a particular scientific field.
What is more dangerous though, the partial understanding of scientific issues sometimes creates the "second" generation of presenters who simplify things even more, creating totally wrong impressions about those things in public which is then beyond repair.
Popularization of science is a very hard, serious and responsible job.... and mostly neglected by the media who in general are not interested in scientific truth, but in just a quick buck to be made and that serves nobody's interest in the long run.
The best example of those consequences are all those recently blooming ID theories. And people who accept them are not to blame because they are simply not adequately trained/educated in scientific methods.
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