Friday, February 11, 2011

B.S. Headlines

I thought it might be fun to collect some of the spun headlines coming from outlets who try to pretend they serve up news. Here's one I found hilarious:

Debate swirls over Mubarak legacy  CNN International

Debate swirls over what's next, ok. But legacy? Earth to CNN: Mubarak just clinched the title, Most naked emperor of the 21st Century.
This one made me lol too:

Will US help Egypt transition to democracy?  CTV.ca

Hmmm, shouldn't there be quotation marks around the word "help" in that sentence? More:

Post-Mubarak: How the U.S. Plans to Aid Democracy in Egypt
  Time

History Upends Icon of Stability in Egypt  New York Times

For U.S., a political vacuum in Mideast Washington Post

Hear that sucking sound? That's the U.S. reputation for protecting you if you're our s.o.b. going down the drain.

Then there's that eternal source of merriment, Iran's president:

Ahmadeinejad says Egypt, Tunisia were inspired by Iran's anti-Western protests
Washington Post

Er, uh, Mr. Adhmadinejad, those were anti-government protests in Iran that inspired twittering to revolution. Or maybe you didn't notice that part? After all, you have yet to notice any homosexuals in a population of more than 70 million.

More confusion, but consider the source:

Why the Muslim Brotherhood Will Win   Fox News

As usual The Onion pens one of the more truthful headlines -- common result of attempting satire in an age that almost defies it:

Egyptian Populace To Hopefully Get Something Better Than Democracy Out Of All This

And finally, one really worth reading from Mondoweiss, the blog about the nuts and bolts of spinning the news out of Israel-Palestine and region:

Young Jews, be like Huck making common cause with Jim on the raft

(Kudos to Rae Abileah, shero for our times.)

1 comment:

msm said...

The word "Democracy" also needs to be in quotes in most of those headlines.

Thanks for the pointer to Mondoweiss