What's Going On at the NYT Magazine?
Being in the news business ... though a lowly trade reporter and not a star at a national publication ... I have always wanted to believe that the leftward tilt of many stories was an accident of perspective and not an intentional campaign, now I am not too sure.
Taking a look at this morning's NY Times magazine I was astounded by the inaccuracy of the headline: "What's the Movement to Outlaw Gay Marriage Really About? What struck me was the use of the word "outlaw". In my mind for something to be outlawed it must first be legal. A quick look at dictionary.com seems to back me up on this. I have to believe the editors at the times are better educated than I am, so they must know the definition of outlaw. No benefit of the doubt can be given them.
To document this obvious distortion of the English language, I had hoped to include a link to the offending headline. But it is not on the NY Times Website. In its stead there is a new headline:
"What's Their Real Problem with Gay Marriage? (It's the Gay Part).
Obviously, between the time my paper copy of the magazine was printed on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the Times Magazine editors realized (or were attacked for) their error and made a revision.
To fix the first problem, however, they have created another. Where the initial headline was neutral in tone ("the movement to outlaw" is at least a third party phrasing), the new headline (inadvertently?) puts the Times Magazine on one side of the issue ("their real problem" implies the magazine is on the "our" side in an "us versus them" battle).
We will see if they feel the need to revise the headline yet again.
UPDATE: A look inside the magazine reveals I made an error. Both headlines are in the print version: the first is on the cover and the second is the article headline.
Taking a look at this morning's NY Times magazine I was astounded by the inaccuracy of the headline: "What's the Movement to Outlaw Gay Marriage Really About? What struck me was the use of the word "outlaw". In my mind for something to be outlawed it must first be legal. A quick look at dictionary.com seems to back me up on this. I have to believe the editors at the times are better educated than I am, so they must know the definition of outlaw. No benefit of the doubt can be given them.
To document this obvious distortion of the English language, I had hoped to include a link to the offending headline. But it is not on the NY Times Website. In its stead there is a new headline:
"What's Their Real Problem with Gay Marriage? (It's the Gay Part).
Obviously, between the time my paper copy of the magazine was printed on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the Times Magazine editors realized (or were attacked for) their error and made a revision.
To fix the first problem, however, they have created another. Where the initial headline was neutral in tone ("the movement to outlaw" is at least a third party phrasing), the new headline (inadvertently?) puts the Times Magazine on one side of the issue ("their real problem" implies the magazine is on the "our" side in an "us versus them" battle).
We will see if they feel the need to revise the headline yet again.
UPDATE: A look inside the magazine reveals I made an error. Both headlines are in the print version: the first is on the cover and the second is the article headline.
posted by DCPI at 1:21 PM
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