HEY! Did you just read the words above after I told you not to???
I used to believe that skimming the headlines gives us a little about a lot while reading the story gives us a lot about a little.
But on Sunday morning, Comcast.net prompted me with a headline that ran like “Teen killed by Six Flags roller coaster.” Though I cannot remember nor find the exact words of this headline, I know what I derived from it: That increasingly shady theme park was responsible for yet another premature and tragic death. In my head, those six flags were all red ones.
On Monday morning, the only headline I found regarding this story on Comcast.net was “Family mourns teen hit by roller coaster in Ga.”
What really happened was that the teen had jumped two six-foot fences, ending up in an unauthorized area that was clearly marked off with warning signs, where he was then fatally struck by the roller coaster.
As sad as this story is, I can’t help but wonder how long it will be before we need to put fences and warning signs around headlines. The original headline of this story was more gripping but also more misleading. It almost seems that reporters are now advertisers for their own stories, desperate for the click-through customer.
But just as wrong as I was to automatically blame Six Flags for this teen’s death, I’m wrong to blame the reporters for my misinformation. And as more headlines hit our screens, and more revenue becomes dependent on click-throughs, we have to face the facts by finding them.
The bad news is that we’re going to have to start reading the entire story. But the good news is that we’ll actually know what we’re talking about.
Inspired by “Family mourns teen hit by roller coaster in Ga.” The Associated Press. June 29, 2008. http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1031096,sixflags062908.article
0 Responses to “DON’T READ THE HEADLINE”