Monday, February 22, 2010

Coach, let's talk about your record

Here's a nice example of how to lie without really lying. The Fox hed here is taken directly from the lede and is utterly grammatical, but it's pragmatically flawed:

Democratic governors said Sunday they worry about President Barack Obama's track record on fighting Republican political attacks and urged him to better connect with anxious voters.

The cousins at the Fair 'n' Balanced Network aren't stupid. They know that a good proportion of readers are going to get everything they need (or want) from the hed. Why mess up their lives by introducing the context in which the hed would be true?

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