Reply #14: Original Headline changed [View All]

[hansolsen]

When this article first appeared on the NYTs website, the title and first sentence contained no qualifiers whatsoever.

I sent the following post to the public editor's website, and the title was changed by morning:

"Headline writers have a tough job

Today's front page article on President Bush and administration policies on torture, has this summary lead on the front page of the web edition:

"Orders by Bush About Prisoners Set Humane Tone
By Rischard W. Stevenson
President Bush ordered all people detained as part of the fight against terrorism be treated humanely, the White House said."

The article goes on to say that the pile of material released today to prove this assertion is incomplete, and far from definitive.

One would never know this from the headline.

Why is that?"