Misleading headlines confuse readers, give wrong impression
Who writes the titles to your articles? If if is done by local staff, please be more careful to have the headline reflect the conclusion of the article, not imply the opposite.
On Sunday, Dec. 4, the title read, “Report on global temperatures is incorrect, scientists say.” Someone could incorrectly assume that scientists were calling into question the idea of climate change. In fact, the article says that some disreputable news sources questioned climate change and scientists found those reports incorrect. A better title might have been, “Climate change deniers’ reports found incorrect by scientists.”
Many people just browse headlines. At least they could get the correct conclusion if the title matched the content. Now more than ever, we need clarity in news reporting.
Wendy Fertschneider, San Luis Obispo
This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Misleading headlines confuse readers, give wrong impression."