A lot of people don’t know that editors, and not reporters, write most news headlines.
Reporters do the brunt of the work. But when it comes time for the headline, editors usually take over.
If that’s the case with a particularly shameful NPR headline published last weekend, then a reporter somewhere should be having a very long and angry talk with her editor.
“Pardon Sought For Prisoner Who Fought For Puerto Rican Independence,” the headline read.
There is much, much more to the story. “Prisoner Who Fought For Puerto Rican Independence” is a grotesque glossing-over of the facts.
Oscar López Rivera was arrested in May 1981 and charged with seditious conspiracy, armed robbery and other charges related to a string of bombings in the 1970s and 1980s.
Rivera was a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, a Puerto Rican terrorist group that planted more than 130 bombs in U.S. cities, injuring hundreds and killing five.
The FALM leader admitted to all the charges brought against him, but he refused to participate in most of his own trial. He argued that he was a political prisoner.
Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison in 1981, the court having found him guilty of his role in the bombings.
On Tuesday, President Obama commuted Rivera’s sentence.
What’s so fascinating about the NPR story, which was written before the White House formally announced the commutation, is that the report itself is clear and thorough. It’s an enjoyable read!
It’s the headline that’s garbage.
(h/t Seth Mandel)
