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SUCCESS: HR Prompts The Australian to Correct Headline Fail

UPDATE Shortly following the publication of this post and direct communication with The Australian, the headline was amended to the following: Thanks to The Australian for responding so quickly. On Wednesday afternoon,…

Simon Plosker
March 30, 2017
12:00 am

Reading time: 3 minutes

UPDATE

Shortly following the publication of this post and direct communication with The Australian, the headline was amended to the following:

Thanks to The Australian for responding so quickly.

On Wednesday afternoon, Israeli border guards shot dead a woman who attempted to stab them outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. No border guards were injured in the attack.

This was The Australian‘s headline for its story taken from the Associated Press:

Andrew Bolt responds in the Herald Sun:

We need to be a lot more careful with headlines that tell the wrong story by telling half the story.

Wrong:

Palestinian woman killed by Israeli police – News.com.au

Palestinian woman killed by Israeli police – The Australian

Right:

Palestinian woman shot dead trying to stab Israeli police, officials say – The Guardian

Israeli officers kill Palestinian woman who tried to stab them: police – Reuters

Enough said.

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Tags: Andrew Bolt, Damascus Gate, Headline fail, Jerusalem, Lack of context, Old City, Palestinian terror, stabbing attack, success, The Australian

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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