Misleading headline reflects propaganda
Published: October 16, 2008
Shame, shame on you for having the audacity to allow the titling of your front-page article by reporter Bob Stuart on Oct. 12 to read, “Retired military leaders say Obama is best choice.”
Upon reading the misleading title and ensuing article content, one finds that only three retired military members during a gathering Oct. 11 at the Staunton Public Library supported Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. While your title represents the three who spoke Saturday, this title seems more than a little “propaganda programmed” to us.
Perhaps your title was intended for those who grasp “truth” as everything they read in newspaper headlines. To state ‘retired military leaders say’ would only be appropriate if you had accurately polled the entire retired commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the United States of America’s armed forces. Your readers deserve more accurate reporting.
Kathryn M. Gorenflo and Capt. Louis W. Gorenflo,
United States Navy, retired
Afton
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Reader Reactions
The same critique could be applied to the headline on this letter. “Misleading headline reflects propaganda”? Really?
Should we soon expect a statement from the paper a la Monty Python - “The people responsible for sacking the people who wrote the first misleading headline, have been sacked”?
Many thanks to Capt. Gorenflo for his service to our country. I will reserve thanks for his attempt at media criticism.
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