From the "You Read Too Much SF" file: I was really disappointed by the press release that went with the headline:
Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers
A headline like that really ought to involve bodies strewn about a remote observatory, and enigmatic alien forces roaming free, perhaps being hunted by menacing government agents. Sadly, it just refers to some sort of surprisingly large radio emitter in the very distant reaches of the universe.
More like this
Summary: Lott and Hassett have not analyzed their data correctly---it actually shows no evidence that headlines are biased against Republicans.
Here are two headlines about the same subject:
We live in a short-attention-span age. I have a huge array of feeds spewing information at me like the proverbial firehose, so I often don't do more than look at the headline and RSS excerpt, and I don't think I'm alone.
I've had occasion to remark a number of times how much of what is reported as "science news" is just warmed over press releases from university media departments or company flacks. I read them anyway, often sucked in my a headline that turns out to oversell the case.
Seriously. That headline just screams "Star Trek episode."
Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers.
Astronomers retaliate, bombard energy burst with cold dark matter. Energy burst, deflated, slinks away with magnetars stuck to its refrigerator.
I thought it was going to be an article about a new vitamin drink the astronomers had been sucking down while trying to stay awake for yet another long imaging run....
panel explodes, killing redshirt