Headlines should not hold you Hostage; Use your Brain

Also, it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your math skills…

Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash

Some people are panicking. Others are protesting. What is going on?

Is it red state/blue state? Book smarts vs. street smarts? Hypochondriacs vs. daredevils? What gives?

Maybe it’s the way people read headlines. Or maybe it’s the headlines.

Let me show, not tell.

Example A: State A has 1 Covid-19 death on Friday. Saturday, a 2nd death.

Sunday’s Headline: Coronavirus deaths doubled!!!!

People panic! Stores sold out of beer. Mother arrested in toilet paper brawl.

Example B: State B has 10,000 Covid-19 deaths on Friday. Saturday, 9,999 deaths.

Sunday’s Headline: Coronavirus deaths drop!!!!

People Protest! Families leave home. Father arrested for taking kids to park.

Does the media deliberately post provocative headlines?

Maybe. After all, clever taglines sell. But instead of blaming the media for misinformation, perhaps we should take responsibility for actually reading the whole story. And maybe brush up on our math skills.