Misleading Headlines
Jun. 10th, 2008 08:37 amYou may have been reading about the large temporary lakes created by the recent Chinese earthquake. These are/were highly unstable bodies of water, and there was much concern that they would break through the dams of wreckage and catastrophically flood heavily populated areas.
So, I was a little concerned by this CNN headline:
QUAKE LAKE WATER SURGES THROUGH CITIES
Except when you read the story, you find out that the draining operation was a success, and most of the danger is past. The "surge" refers to control drainage of the lake that passed through an outflow channel.
I don't know. I see this as a kind of bait and switch. It's not simply a dramatic headline - it's an actively misleading headline.
So, I was a little concerned by this CNN headline:
QUAKE LAKE WATER SURGES THROUGH CITIES
Except when you read the story, you find out that the draining operation was a success, and most of the danger is past. The "surge" refers to control drainage of the lake that passed through an outflow channel.
I don't know. I see this as a kind of bait and switch. It's not simply a dramatic headline - it's an actively misleading headline.