Friday, August 09, 2019
Headlines for August 9, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for August 9, 2019
*San Jose police union cancels raffle of semiautomatic rifle after receiving complaints
It took six days after the mass shooting in neighboring Gilroy for them to take down this raffle, and then only after a public outcry. Adding additional irony to this story, the raffle was to benefit the SJPD Chaplaincy, presumably so they would have sufficient thoughts and prayers ready for the next mass shooting. Incidentally this was not the only gun raffle being run by police departments this week; it seems to be a common thing.
*He was a loner, not very memorable, but what made him a killer?
He may not have had any friends in real life, but one thing we know for sure — there are no “loners” in the days of the internet. This kind of headline just lets that kind of influence off the hook.
*Original headline: Trump urges unity vs. racism
Changed to: Assailing Hate But Not Guns (online: Trump Condemns White Supremacy but Stops Short of Major Gun Controls)
Trump did in fact say “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated.” Of course he also blamed video games, the internet and social media, and mental illness. The latter, by the way, not to propose improved mental health services, but just to talk about “involuntary confinement”, also called imprisonment without trial.
*Original headline: Trump’s Latino Supporters Say They’re Sticking With Him After El Paso Shootings
Changed to: Latinos grapple with Trump’s views after El Paso shootings
Was there a poll? Nope. The original headline was a classic in spinning anecdotal evidence. The first 3 paragraphs are actually about a guy who didn’t vote for Trump and still won't. Then they talk to an 80-year-old who does. Well that certainly proves the thesis expressed in the headline.
*Putin Says Russia Will Spy on U.S. to Match Missile Development
Leader sets out retaliatory measures after collapse of Cold War weapons treaty
Actual Putin statement: “I instruct the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Intelligence Service to monitor in the most thorough manner future steps taken by the United States.”
*Maduro government pulls out of talks with Venezuela’s opposition over U.S. sanctions
A classic blame the victim headline. How about "U.S. sanctions sabotage talks between Venezuela's government and opposition"? [For example, this from The American Conservative: Trump’s Embargo Torpedoes Venezuelan Negotiations
Also, the seizure of a ship in the Panama Canal delivering 25,000 tons of soy to Venezuela shows that the word “sanctions” is a complete misdirect. This is a blockade, not just “sanctions”.
*Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We’re Doomed
Print edition front page headline: “Gabbard, a soldier who is serious about peace”. Save the clickbait for the web, evidently.
Subhead on the web: “Or we will be if America doesn’t leave the rest of the world alone. That’s why the 38-year-old congresswoman from Hawaii is running for president.”
First sentence: “Tulsi Gabbard is running for president of a country that she believes has wrought horror on the world, and she wants its citizens to remember that.”
Further: “She lists countries: Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq. Failure after failure, she says. To drive the point home, she wants to meet on a Sioux tribe reservation in North Dakota, where, she explains, the United States government committed its original atrocity.”
Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young American men, new research shows
The weird thing about this headline, and this article, is that it was in the *business and real estate* section, not on the front page.
