Same Data, Different Summaries?
May. 22nd, 2006 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acroyearHeadline writers suck.
Reuters:
great icon choice for this post, 'eh?
update:
not the only instance today.
AP:
yeah, i know, its same data, same basic story, each just choosing to emphasize a small part of it as being the key, and they disagree entirely with what should be emphasized. it just amazes me that headline writers/editors who should actually be experienced enough at this to come to the same conclusions about how to write it still come up with such wildly different results...
Reuters:
US predicts active hurricane season
AP:Hurricane Center Predicts Calmer Season
you know, if they used more than 5 words in a headline, they might actually get some accuracy and consistency out there.great icon choice for this post, 'eh?
update:
not the only instance today.
AP:
FTC: Some Gas Price Gouging After Katrina
Reuters:FTC sees no illegal gas price manipulation
so geeze, guys, even up to 7 words and you still can't get consistent or accurate...yeah, i know, its same data, same basic story, each just choosing to emphasize a small part of it as being the key, and they disagree entirely with what should be emphasized. it just amazes me that headline writers/editors who should actually be experienced enough at this to come to the same conclusions about how to write it still come up with such wildly different results...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 06:14 pm (UTC)(yes, perfect icon!)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-23 02:22 am (UTC)Likewise, the FTC has theoretically seen no illegal manipulation by the gas companies (yeah, right... maybe not really illegal, but incredibly unethical), however there have been some stations who have been "caught price gouging"... and their owners are ending up in court, or paying a fine or something. Both of those topics have been in the news on and off for quite a while now.
Kinda like the headlines "Radical Mob Stirrer Put to Death" vs. "Son of God Crucified"... it's all in the way you look at it... or how you want others to look at it.
(sigh... we've got a new rag up here that is rather on the yellow side of yellow... and some of its headlines have become *so* annoying I won't even look at it as it get shoved into the recycling bag. I might just give them a bag of their own, so I don't even have to touch them as I dump them in. blech)