Headline News

I am amazed at the headlines that appear in the news – those topics that are deemed important enough by some presumably experienced News Professional to appear each day as our “recommended reading list.” On my internet home page there are probably 100 different headlines, each meant to catch my eye and make me want to click to the next page for the complete story (and, more importantly, so I can see all the ads that are there.) Of these “news” headlines, possibly 1/10 of them are actual news, but usually with some bizarre twist:

• POLICE SHOOT MAN TWICE IN ONE NIGHT
• BANK HEIST GOES UNSEEN

A majority of the rest are related to Hollywood and celebrity updates. I am obviously not keeping up on all this, nor do I see any reason to even know who these people are. Why are they so prominent in my news? For example:

• CAN MICKELSON HOLD ON?– This was actually a banner headline - 'above the fold,' as it were. Who is this Mickelson and what is he holding on to?
• HAS KELLI CLARKSON BEEN DOING A MILLI VANILLI?– Again I ask, Who? Who? What does this mean?
• AFTER PROBE, ABDUL TO REMAIN ON 'IDOL' – Was s/he abducted by aliens?

Then there are the ‘unusual interest’ articles:

• COLONEL SANDERS KICKS THE HABIT – I admit, I had to click on this one. It was about KFC taking the high road about tobacco while keeping the low road regarding calories.
• HOW OLD IS TOO OLD TO HAVE A BABY?
• DOCTOR INVESTIGATED IN FLESH-EATING PASTE SCAM - Sorry, but this sounds like tabloid material.
• NOT ENOUGH TESTING FOR URINARY WOES IN PETS

And finally there is a section entitled: “READ MORE OF THE WEB'S BEST REPORTING”

I think I’ll pass.