Misleading News Headlines

[Gryffindorian]

A friend of mine sent me an article last night about a tragic crime that occurred recently around Oakland Chinatown, close to where I work.

The title of the article read: "Exclusive: Family, Friends of Dentist Killed in Oakland Call for Justice."

I must have read it too fast, and I replied to my friend saying, "OMG! How many people died?!"

I thought the family and friends of a particular dentist in the Bay Area were killed in a crime! Then I read the article and realized it was about a dentist who was shot to death, and the community was seeking justice and answers from authorities.

While this incident was no laughing matter, it occurred to me that some journalists do need to work on their headlines. Has anyone read some bizarre or amusing news headline, only to realize it's not what it appears to be? What say you?

 

[Aragorn]

In the old days, or at least for newspapers, the copy desk writes the headlines, not the reporter. But if the headline is awful, the readers would of course blame the reporter.

Not sure how it is for online-only media, especially since many of them don't seem to have any proofreaders.

 

[Non Sync]

Journalism is in sad shape. People are getting their news from non-news sources. Fewer people are expected to do more. Newspapers are closing up. Instead of hiring real journalists, they're hiring social media influencers. Headlines are becoming more sensationalized as well as the reporting itself becoming more biased.