Two bodies found in Kansas with no foul play suspected, while the lake they were found on is being scoured for more clues.
After perusing the headlines from a dozen or so newspapers today, I came to a simple conclusion.
Newspapers often use misleading headlines on the front page for the express purpose of drawing someone to pull the paper from a newsstand after inserting the necessary monetary tokens.
A case in point is this article title I wrote, regarding a couple who have apparently, and unfortunately, drowned in a lake in Kansas. No fault of the lake they were on, it wasn't a hazardous lake, it didn't have a sea monster living in it. Nothing overly strange about the lake except it's name,
Cheney Lake.
That in itself gives rise to the ability of a less scrupulous news outlet than the
Hutchnews.com site of the actual paper to make a banner of "Cheney Slays Two" No Foul Play Suspected.
In this case, the newspaper was responsible in it's delivery of the news, unlike so many of the major outlets I wade through regularly.
And the printed news business is still standing there in boardrooms across America wondering why they continue to lose readership and advertising?
The loss of the public trust in print news isn't all that surprising when I consider the unspoken agenda of most of the major outlets.
They tend to be rabidly liberal, moderately conservative or only partially successful. The problem from my perspective is the unspoken action of slanting the news to fit the agenda of the publisher or editorial staff. The slant isn't a crime and should never be made a crime. Even the American Communist Party had it's
own paper (no, not the NY Times?)
One case which stood out to me was the case of Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide last week when the FBI began closing in on him for the suspected crime of mailing anthrax laden envelopes to several notable figures.
The
New York Post plastered the
"POISON PROFIT"
headline across the front of the newspaper, and titled the article as:
MAD 'THRAX GENIUS WAS BANKING ON SUCCESS IN THE MAIL
The Post was luridly suggesting in the first portion of the article the mega millions to be made with vaccines for anthrax. Belatedly the Post mentions the
One estimate put the potential windfall in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Excuse me, but
TENs of thousands? Enough to buy a nice car? Maybe?
The ruse being, not every person reading the article is going to make the connection of such a small profit motive for a man many have labelled as extremely intelligent.
And I ask again, the print newspaper businesses wonder why readership and profits are falling?
The examples are plentiful throughout the world of print media, profits begin to go down, so the headlines become more and more salacious and misleading in the attempt to bring readership back. It seems they just don't get it, lying to the people you are trying to attract doesn't work. Just like raising taxes on the people who pay taxes by creating jobs and work for taxpayers does not create a larger revenue stream. It just drives the businesses and jobs elsewhere to places where the taxes are lower, thereby lessening the revenue stream.
And therein my own agenda is showing, I have no interest in supporting a failed system of government - Socialism.
