I do a lot of scanning and reading as prep for this blog, and I enjoy doing it. One thing I don't enjoy is when article titles turn out to be non-descriptive of the article they label.
A recent misleading example from the RealClear group of websites is the following. First the article title: "Warning: Winter Surgeries and the Frail Patient." I took that to mean they'd found out it was dangerous to schedule surgery for frail patients during winter, meaning winter posed additional risks.
So I read the article and found out winter posed no risks. Winter was only mentioned because people are more likely to schedule elective surgeries (hip or knee replacements, etc.) then, possibly because they will be shut in anyway because of cold weather.
That is only one example, I often see titles claiming an answer to the question of "why" some phenomenon does or does not occur, only to find the article describes the phenomenon, demonstrates it is common, and leaves it at that. I'd estimate I see one of those every couple of weeks.
It is a form of bait and switch, and it leaves me feeling like Charley Brown when Lucy whisks the football away. It is hard to know who to blame, sometimes the editor will rename a column and sometimes it's the author's fault.
Whoever is responsible, I'd sure love it to stop.
