The Cuckoo's Nest

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Who reads the third paragraph?

I think it used to be a rule in newspapers that your headline had to be substantiated somewhere in the body of the article. I say 'used to be'. Take a look at this article in today's Age, with the screamer:

Some think I lied on AWB, admits Howard


The article itself doesn't contain a single direct quote from Howard that even remotely approaches this. Not even a massaged-paraphrase. Surely if he had made such a staggering admission, it would be worth quoting verbatim? The closest is that a talkback caller accuses Howard of cowardice over the AWB affair, and Howard replies - quite reasonably:

"It's a view that some Australians will have but it's not a view that all Australians will have."

The real thing, of course, is to get the words 'lied', 'admit' and 'Howard' into the same sentence.

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