There is a NY Times headline, related to the current identification-by-birth-genitalia controversy, "Anatomy Does Not Determine Gender, Experts Say." If you read the article, it becomes clear that it really means that Some Experts, in fact Some Carefully Chosen Experts say this.
The headline is dishonest without that.
I'm sure you are shocked by this.
The NYT would lie or deliberately try to mislead its readers? The HORROR!! The horror...
ReplyDeleteWay back when, one of my first jobs was typesetter/proofreader at a local small-town newspaper. I learned that headlines often don't reflect the reality of the story. But what's worse, I learned that the story often doesn't reflect what really happened. I can't say that this made me immune to gullibility or bias... but it spurred me to question everything printed.
ReplyDeleteI served on a grand jury in Illinois for three months (grand jury is great fun, btw). Comparing the testimony sworn before us (generally by trained eyewitnesses) with what I'd read in the newspaper earlier was enlightening.
ReplyDeleteOr, James, was it endarkening?
ReplyDelete