(Aside) Pet peeve: Headline editors vs. author's article and the gist of the issue -

[pinto]

Court's decision could widen Medicaid gap (LA Times)

Followed by -

Conservative states could reject federal aid, leaving hundreds of thousands without medical insurance.

************************

(Bolding mine - pinto)

It's the states' decisions that would widen Medicaid gap. It's the states' decision to opt out. SCOTUS and the Affordable Care Act simply gave them the choice.


It's my understanding that headline writers operate independently from the newspaper's authors. Write up headlines as the paper is formatted / assembled for print. Way too often, they either editorialize via the headline or spin the gist of the article. And way too often, the headline is all some folks read on a scan. The result - sound bite journalism.

Always makes me go

(ed to add link to article)

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-court-impact-20120629,0,4783992.story

[elleng]

1. Right, me too, headlines are often crap.

Headline editors really should go to school somewhere.

[NYC Liberal]

2. How about "question headlines"?

You know, ones that say something like, "Was Obama born in Kenya?" as though legitimate evidence will be presented, and then the article is about one right-wing nut job claiming "Obama was born in Kenya!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. A writer on the Independent (UK) is collecting headlines to which the answer is plainly 'no'

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/tag/headline/

eg Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth? (The Guardian)
Bo: Political liability? (Politico)
Baghdad Spa Offers Fish Pedicures: Are Luxury Treatments The Newest Sign Of Progress? (Huffington Post)
Did Life On Earth Originate From Zombie Microbes? (NPR)
Does the Pentagon have the right weapons to fight off an alien invasion? (Foreign Policy)
Did Jesus Foresee the US Constitution? (Andrew Sullivan)

[treestar]

4. Mine too

I saw one to the effect of (LA Times) Obama has large lead among California voters, but will it last?

The large lead was news, why add but will it last? Just in order to editorialize or hope that it won't.