Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
I confess I'm disappointed that every news property on cable or OTA
is "covering" this abomination. I scolded Rachel on Bluesky that
MSNBC, at least, should be running dawn to dusk remembrances of
Martin Luther King on his federal holiday. If someone happens to get
off a lucky shot, I'm sure we'll get to see the highlight reel. 

I'm watching replays of the Australian Open in the meantime.
  

    
OTOH, Jen and Norm on The Contrarian are live streaming their
mockery of this malignant event, so there's that.
  

    
Meidas Touch is showing a feed of just puppies and kittens all day. 

Also Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben and others happening now "The
Only Way We Get Through This Is Together".

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf_ydiJ8GLw>
  

    
I spent some time watching Solnit's livestream - good thoughts
though a bit redundant. This might be a good day for quiet...
  

    

It's important news, so of course MSNBC is covering it. 

If they're not covering it in context, in an illuminating way,
though, that's IMO a bad editorial choice.

On WNYC this morning, from 10-noon, the Brian Lehrer Show ran audio
from its annual MLK Day Jr. Day Celebration event yesterday. THAT
was contextualizing the inauguration.
  

    
Massive banner headline at NY Times: "TRUMP SAYS HE'LL END US
DECLINE."

WaPo: "Trump Sworn In as 47th President."

NPR: "TRUMP VOWS GOLDEN AGE"

Wall Street Journal: "Trump Sworn In, Says 'Golden Age of America
Begins Right Now'"

The Guardian: "Trump portrays himself as 'saved by God' in inaugural
speech announcing slew of hardline executive orders"

Financial Times: "Trump vows new 'golden age' for US as he moves to
unwind Biden era"

USA Today: "A NEW TRUMP ERA BEGINS"

The Onion: "Confused Trump Autographs Swearing-In Bible Before
Handing It Back To Justice Roberts"
  

    

How do folks rate those headlines? Here's my take, from worst to
best:

NY Times
WSJ
NPR
Financial Times
USA Today
WaPo
The Onion
The Guardian
  

    
Guess who gets all the Gold in the Golden Age.
  

    
Of course the NYTimes is the worst.
  

    

Emily, you left out the punctuation in the NYT hed.

"TRUMP SAYS HE'LL END U.S. 'DECLINE'"

The scare quotes say it all, I think, and make it a very different hed.

The story itself also makes it clear that he then delivered a rant even more
unhinged than he did in 2017:

"But even more than in 2017, he largely dispensed with lofty themes and the
broad unifying strokes favored by most presidents in their Inaugural
Addresses, and outlined a series of often-divisive policies."

  So maybe the NYT hed is still the worst to some folks reading this. But I
disagree.
  

    
That was me, sorry I missed the scare quotes. I agree that it makes
a difference.

I thought NPR was the worst, and the Onion was the best.
  

    

  Jon and Emily, please pardon my misattribution.
  

    
I like Rolling Stone's headline:

Convicted Felon Sworn In as President

<https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-sworn-in-47th
-president-united-states-1235241770/>
  

    
In light of the scare quotes, the NY Times headline shifts from last
to tied with the WaPo.

Still, it assumes a lot on the part of the reader. 
  

    
Oops: Rolling Stone bumps the Onion down to third place!

Okay, I'll stop now.
  

    
So which major USA media outlets mentioned Elon's two nazi salutes
at the Nuremberg Rally after the inauguration?
  

    
I think we may be assigning more importance to headlines than is
warranted. 
  

    
The way people consume news now all the see are headlines and
subheads flying by on feeds. Some people -- myself included a lot of
the time -- don't click in to stories.
  

    

Headline composition is a very important factor in getting people to
click the link. 
  

    
The shitty NYTimes headlines have the opposite effect on me. Also if
I have to read more than 9 paragraphs to know something is not a
hagiography it is essentially a hagiography. 
  

    

To your question, Larry: 

"Elon Musk’s ‘Odd-Looking’ Salute Stuns CNN Anchors," reports
HuffPost - with video.

"Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand
Gesture" - NY Times

Also covering: New York Daily News, Rolling Stone, Daily Beast,
Wired, Penn Live, Yahoo News, the major mainstream UK outlets...and
video of it has gone viral.
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
Thanks Emily.

I came here to point out that horrifically shitty NYTimes headline,
which could have been from Pitchbot. Needless to say I shan't be
clickng through.

IT WAS A NAZI SALUTE. THE NAZIS THINK IT WAS A NAZI SALUTE.
  

    
From Rolling Stone, which you mentioned

<https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-salute-reaction-
right-wing-extremists-1235241866/>

>>Right-Wing Extremists Are Abuzz Over Musk’s Straight-Arm Salute
“Incredible things are happening already lmao,” wrote Gab founder
and Hitlerbot innovator Andrew Torba<<
  

    
Just getting back and into the conversation, and have a few things
to say on the up topic points on non-profits and more, but headlines
on news stories are profoundly important now, more than ever. 

For most people scrolling through on a social site or an aggregator
like Apple News, or even those getting headlines as news alerts, the
headlines are really just blurring together. It soon becomes "Trump
said a thing..." "Somebody said something about Trump saying
something..." and each headline becomes less distinct and with fewer
and fewer people clicking through.

At some point, the person will say, "I heard Trump said a thing..."
but because people are so overwhelmed with information devoid of
context, it's becoming harder and harder for them to recall exactly
what story or what headline they are remembering.

Unless, they are deeply interested in the subject itself or it's the
amazing headline that pulls them in and they read the story.

I said headlines on news stories earlier because I've been looking
at heads on social posts, particularly reels or YouTube shorts, in a
different way. I can say more later, but essentially if a person
goes in knowing the time commitment is only a minute or so, they
might be willing to give the story a chance.