I came across an article at Yahoo and thought the headline and article were misleading. The word "student" in the headline should have been replaced with the word "gunman." The headline sort of conjures up an image of an fresh-scrubbed college freshman. The guy was 32. There is a sentence that, though it disclaims connection to Wall Street protests, seems to unnecessarily bring those protests into consideration. You be the judge.
Teaser on Yahoo front page: “Student shot by officers at UC Berkeley on Tuesday dies”
Headline on actual Reuters article: “Student shot at UC Berkeley has died, university says”
Excerpted paragraphs from article: “Christopher Nathen Elliot Travis, 32, died late on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the shooting at the Haas School of Business, university spokesman Dan Mogulof said.
University police say there is no indication that the incident was related to a day of rallies Berkeley linked to anti-Wall Street protests.
University police chief Mitchell Celaya told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that officers responding to a call of a man with a gun in the lab shot the suspect when he pulled the weapon from his backpack and displayed it in a threatening manner.”
I walked away from this article thinking the writer of the headline or the article has agendas. From one perspective, there is a flavor of authorities misusing their power. At a minimum, the headline is misleading and sensational. In the worst case, it could have been intended to leave an impression that there was mistreatment of Wall Street protesters by law enforcement.
I've written before that the headline writers at Yahoo sensationalize. They also rewrite headlines throughout the day for the same warmed over articles. I'm just sayin'.
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