There are misleading headlines and there are misleading headlines.
The Times UK boldly declares!
Pope attacks Iran at Jewish Congress
Oh my! The Pope must have really done it this time. What could he possibly have said to warrant such a headline.
Did he say that Mahmoud is pure evil and that he hopes Bush drops a house on him soon? No.
Did he say Iran’s relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons makes it a rogue state that needs immediate regime change? No.
Did he say that Mahmoud is a nutter determined to bring on the Apocalypse and thus bring the return of the Mahdi? No.
No. What the Pope said to the Jewish congress is that anti-semitism and Iran are ““an issue of big concern” to him. I know, I know. That crazy Pope is determined to start a war.
So Mahmoud, who is a rabid anti-semite and is actually determined to start a war, gets treated with kid gloves. But the Pope is treated like the real aggressor for being “concerned”. No agenda there, right?
This ridiculous headline is now being carries on foxnews.com. I also hear the Fox is considering a new un-reality show, “When Popes Attack!”
October 12, 2007 at 3:32 am
Why does the Pope attack Iran, but when he makes a statement in which he was only quoting the truth with respect to Islam, when pressured he quickly recanted and visited and prayed to Mecca in a mosque
As a Catholic who has read about the crusades when Popes lead off the church militant and Pope St Pius V who fought off Moslem attackers against all odds, it seems the Catholic church today cant quite seem to figure who to appease
October 12, 2007 at 8:33 pm
There are two axioms in Journalisim that I think of when I read this:
1) Good news is NO news
2) If it bleeds, it leads
Unfortunatly journalisim is a business first, and a public servant second (if at all). They are in the business of selling newspapers. That headline is more likley to make someone stop eating their pop-tart in the check-out, and throw their paper in to their cart.
God help those who use print media as their sole information source.
Mark Twain once said (i think)… People that do not read the newspapers are uninformed. Those who do read newspapers are MISinformed.
Kinda funny in over a century later, it’s still true…