Teaser Journalism

The headline for a July 12th article in the Cincinnati Enquirer on warrantless email searches reads: "Can authorities spy on your private e-mail?", with the subheadline: "Appeals court retains warrantless search in Berkeley case"

In the world of real journalism, the article would have been titled:

Appeals court retains warrantless search in Berkeley case
Authorities can continue to spy on private e-mail

If the Enquirer had headlined the article properly, they would not have been able to use the suspenseful "Can authorities spy on your private e-mail?" as a teaser on the main page of their Web site.

This same style of teaser journalism shows up on their newspaper boxes. The most egregious example is: "They're teaching what in kindergarten?" The Enquirer is not implying that "they're" teaching calculus or quantum physics - the Enquirer is implying that "they're" teaching something about s-e-x in kindergarten.

Does this sell newspapers? Probably. Is it good journalism? No.