Monday, June 27, 2016

Other Examples of Internet Journalistic Excellence 
     Headline - Sea turtle rescued from fishing line with pole attached off Florida.        So what are we to learn from this headline. That a sea turtle got rescued from a fishing line is pretty straightforward and clear. 
     The problem has to do with the pole. Is it really attached to something off Florida. Probably not, but then who knows for sure what a turtle is going to do, or a Floridian for that matter. 
     A simple comma would have made a huge difference. 

     Headline - Giant bison herd blocks traffic on Yellowstone road. 
     Okay, but just looking at the pictures these bison they don’t look any larger than your average bison. Now if they mean that a giant herd of bison blocked a Yellowstone road, that’s something else. 

     Headline - Elephant brought to a halt by intimidating little girl.  
     The first question is who was intimidating whom? Was it the little girl or was it the elephant? The report tells us that it was the elephant who halted at the sight of the little girl. 
     What the report is guessing at is that the elephant was intimidated. Maybe the elephant was just astounded to find this little girl in its path. Or maybe the elephant stopped because it was amused to find this little girl standing there with one arm raised. 
      The report is guessing that the little girl is motioning the elephant to stop. Maybe the little girl is just giving the elephant a friendly wave.

No comments: