Sunday, September 27, 2009

Herald Shock: Headline Misleads!

Has anyone else noticed the new tabloid style of the Herald?

The new headline style is in keeping with the direction the paper is heading.

This is the new headline style:


An example is:



Clearly the story below the headline is supposed to SHOCK! The horror! The horror!

In this case the headline is misleading, because a headline that tells us a lawyer has been suspended would suggest the lawyer's been struck off or been subject to disciplinary proceedings.

In this case the lawyer concerned has been suspended from a list of legal aid lawyers. That means she's not able to claim legal aid for her clients. It's serious for her, as it appears most of her income is legal aid related. But it's not a disciplinary proceeding.

Still, the Herald has not of late been well disposed towards lawyers, especially those working in the legal aid area. So it's no surprise to see this kind of treatment.

I don't know anything about the story, although I vaguely know the lawyer at the centre of the story (I worked with her many years ago). But the headline misleads.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

5 comments:

  1. I can't help but wonder what pithy adjectives they use at the Herald offices to describe the new style (I presume they don't use the word "tabloid" in-house).

    I reckon "racy" probably gets a bit of use.

    ReplyDelete

  2. How about "lurid"? "squalid?" "salacious"? etc etc.

    I'm assuming some in the office still have some self respect.

    ReplyDelete

  3. OMG! Money! Taxpayer's purse! To help "bad people". If you need legal aid, you must be a bad person, right? Poor people - BAD!

    It's political correctness gone MAD!

    ReplyDelete

  4. "I'm assuming some in the office still have some self respect."

    I wouldn't bet on it. And isn't this the third or fourth 'legal aid bad' story we've had recently? If I was a tinfoil hat-wearing crazy, I'd suspect the path is being smoothed for some sort of announcement of a shake-up. But that would be crazy, right?

    ReplyDelete

  5. Harold's obsession does worry me. I don't (yet) believe there's an active conspiracy within the ranks of the Herald to discredit the legal aid system. I suspect it's more an appeal to a particular demographic to sell more papers.

    Who do people hate more than lawyers? Crims. So a legal aid "rort" story is a winner.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments, but I ask commenters to follow a few simple rules:

1. I delete anonymous comments. Please use either a name or moniker. I am not asking anyone to reveal their secret identity. Just don't call yourself "Anonymous".
2. Please don't abuse or defame others.
3. Moronic or nonsensical comments may be deleted.
4. I don't often exercise the heavy hand of censorship, but I do reserve the right to delete any comment I don't like, for any reason.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)