Today the following information appeared in the Washington Post:
Today, the Senate plans to take up a House-passed bill to protect gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits brought by victims of gun violence. A proposal to curb class-action lawsuits is also pending for Senate action soon.Gun-control advocates plan to use the firearms liability measure, which is backed by the National Rifle Association, as a vehicle for votes on two of their top priorities: reauthorization of the 1994 ban on assault weapons, which expires later this year, and legislation to require unlicensed dealers to conduct speedy background checks at gun shows.
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), who voted against the assault weapons ban 10 years ago, is among three Republicans co-sponsoring the bill with Democrats this year. Warner said he believes the law has helped reduce crime while protecting gun owners more than he anticipated in 1994.
The outcome of the struggle over guns is unclear, according to senators on both sides of the issue.
Why should it be noted? Because it's buried in the middle of an article about a medical liability bill.
The Washington Post is not unique in doing this sort of thing. For instance, the Abyssinian Baptists Church is deeply involved in the the redevelopment of properties in Harlem through the Abyssinian Development Corporation, as it has been deeply involved in the community for just short of 200 years. The NY Times recently wrote an article about the church and its development arm. It's title? Stress of Harlem's Rebirth Shows in School's Move to a New Building The Boston Globe ran an article titled Backers of Aristide attack demonstrators. This
Militants loyal to Aristide crushed a similar antigovernment demonstration Thursday, stoning opponents and blocking the protest route. The government said between seven and a dozen attackers have been arrested, but a foreign technical adviser to the police said there have been no arrests.is the fifth paragraph of 18 in the article, and the only place backers of Aristide attacking demonstrators is mentioned.
Now, if I were looking for information on current gun control issues, how would I find that Washington Post article?
This is troublesome. We use headlines. We filter the flood of information based on them[Editor: So what's upwith the twisted headlines on YOUR site?][P6: Shuddup.]For many people, all they know of an issue is what they read in the headlines so they should be an accurate summary of the information the article actually presents.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Good point - I veer between trying to be clever and oblique and realizing no one is even reading what iwrote because the title was TOO clever and oblique. Now I mostly try to label descriptively since it affects search engine response as well.
2 - Hal Pawluk
The issue is bigger than "obliquity."
What Prometheus (may I call you "6"? :-) describes is advocacy taking precedence over journalism (as it was understood in my day).
3 - P6
You can call me 6. In fact, I because P6 because I got tired of typing "Prometheus" all over Blognet.