Remember the overnight curfews following Hurricane Irma? Remember that ‘curfew’ the Post made up?

Below is another in the long series of blog posts about, “One of the ways you know it’s getting close to election season in Lake Worth”.

Those of you who were here will remember the dusk-to-dawn curfew that was after the hurricane. But how many of you remember the ‘curfew’ that was totally made up by The Palm Beach Post in the 2016 election cycle?

That nonsense in the Post followed when the Lake Worth City Commission considered passing an ordinance to control drug and criminal activity in the Downtown Cultural Plaza in the overnight hours (which did end up passing). One of the Post editors instead of calling this an ordinance, which it was, called it a ‘curfew’ instead. Learn more about that below.

Suffice to say, in the mind of the public, there’s a big difference in perception between an “ordinance” and a “curfew”.

Before long the editors at the Post will be giving marching orders to beat reporters. The press reports will certainly reflect that mood and direction. For example, no one will be surprised by the Post endorsements in March 2018. For many months leading up to the elections reporters and editors will leave many clues along the way.

However, there’s another way to try and
manipulate the public: headlines.

Headlines should be, “about six words that need to reflect the article accurately . . . a good headline is based on the lead.”

Use this link to learn more about The New York Times’ “Editing: Standards in Action” for newspapers (and online editions). “Headlines: In a Nutshell”.

In the article by the beat reporter, the word “curfew” was not used one single time. Why did the editor use the word ‘curfew’ in the headline?

The word curfew, the definition understood by nearly everyone, is a way for the authorities and governments to keep you inside your home:

A curfew is also a “regulation requiring a person
to be home at a certain prescribed time.”

The headline editor at the Post clearly employed a tactic called loaded language. In the article by the beat reporter, remember, the word “curfew” was not used one single time.

A lot of people in Lake Worth, and elsewhere, got angry as hell when they saw this headline in that morning’s paper, above the fold on the first page. But this is Free Speech and what happens when you have a newspaper without competition.

It was a very clever headline. But did you know The Palm Beach Post print edition you read wouldn’t even happen if it weren’t for the Sun Sentinel in Broward County? That’s right. After the Post shut down their printing presses they need the Sun Sentinel to print their newspapers and then all those bundles of papers are shipped by big trucks north to Palm Beach County.

Just think of all the fossil fuels that have been wasted over all these years.

So, as we’re heading into another election season and you see another misleading headline like this — don’t get angry — do something. Like write a Letter to the Editor. And if you want to learn more about what the Lake Worth City Commission really did recently, pick up or subscribe to The Lake Worth Herald (pick up the print edition at the City’s newsstand at 600 Lake Ave. in the Downtown). 

So. Stay tuned as they say for the next time, “when you know it’s getting close to election season in our City of Lake Worth”!