IHT Equalizes Murderers and Their Victims

By Published On: July 25, 2005

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Question: How can editors ruin a perfectly solid news story?
Answer: By slapping on a bad headline.

Today’s prime example is an article printed in the International Herald Tribune, which is published by the New York Times. The article, by Times Jerusalem bureau chief Steven Erlanger, opens with the accurate report:

Palestinian gunmen sprayed a civilian Israeli convoy with automatic fire early Sunday morning, killing a husband and wife and wounding four other Israelis, three of them seriously. The attack took place on the main road connecting Israel’s Gaza settlements with Israel.

Israeli Army and security guards fired back, killing one gunman immediately and another after a pursuit. Two soldiers were also lightly wounded.

But the Tribune headline writer completely fails at his job, which is to accurately convey the crux of the story in just a few words. His headline:

2 Israelis are killed and then 2 Palestinians

There is no distinction between killer and victim, no indication of who attacked whom, no hint that the Palestinians died in the course of attacking innocent civilians. In contrast, the New York Times headline writer, whose headline accompanied the exact same Erlanger report, hit the nail on the head, proving that it can be done:

Palestinians kill 2 Israeli Civilians on Road From Gaza

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