One of the most popular and entertaining feeds on twitter is one called “NY Times Pitchbot” which has even been name checked by President Biden. It mocks the NY Times, obviously, usually for its “both sides” tendencies. But it’s getting harder and harder to mock them. Here’s Kevin Drum on one recent egregiously misleading headline:
This is one of the more cowardly headlines I’ve read in a while:
Emerging Portrait of Judge in Trump Documents Case: Prepared, Prickly and Slow
If you read the actual piece, it contains one (1) example of judge Aileen Cannon being prepared—set against half a dozen where she was confused or mistaken. But the main thing the story makes clear is that practically everything Cannon does is to Donald Trump’s benefit. The headline says nothing about this.
A more accurate hed would have been, “Inexperienced, Slow, and Always On Trump’s Side.” Why run the article at all if you’re going to bury it under an innocuous and misleading headline?
That’s just one example. I’ve highlighted quite a few in the last few weeks as well.
Most of the actual journalism at the Times remains as good as always. But something is very wrong in the headline department. And it’s not just there. The mainstream press in general seems to be hedging its bets in this way, probably to appeal to certain algorithms for clicks and eyeballs. Unfortunately, many people only read the headlines and they set a narrative that does not reflect the truth. It’s a problem.