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by mywittyname 1406 days ago
I "really hate" how some "news" sites like to, "quote excessively" in headlines.

If you want to call some nonsense, or a bold face lie, have the damn courage to just call it that. Don't air-quoting some nebulous entity to make it sound more official.

4 comments

It's to deflect liability? If you are quoting someone, you aren't the one who could be sued.
Politician calls bill "horrible"

Vs.

Politician calls bill horrible

In the first, the politician actually uses the word ‘horrible’ and so it’s quoted.

In the second, the headline writer is giving their opinion/spin.

"Politican" calls bill horrible.
Journalists have done this for centuries. They're making it clear that they're reporting that someone else said that, and it's not the journalist's words.
It's slightly better than an editorialized summary.
I disagree, one/two word quotes can be used to drastically spin what a person said.

/u/legister: Headlines with mini-quotes are "better" than the alternative, since they aren't "editorialized."

Oh no. Is that really why you think people use quotes, or are you trolling? I hope you are.
Quoting entire sentences is fine. But anymore, news is quoting literally single words without any citations.

/u/secondcoming asks, "are you trolling? I hope you are."

Vs.

User "trolls" forum. Posters respond to "quotes" with "oh no."

Seriously, about 80% of FN headlines contain one or two word mini-quotes.

Right, but it's not "air quotes". Those have an element of sarcasm.