An unidentified woman was killed after being hit by a car on the southside of Brisbane this morning – a story covered by the Courier Mail website which appeared with the following headline:
The details of the story are as follows:
“Police have as yet been unable to identify her but hope someone will recognise the description and come forward.
She is believed to be between 40 and 50-years-old, 160cm tall with an obese build and a tattoo of a dragon on her left breast.
She has brown to hazel eyes, and blonde hair at the front, dark at the back.
At the time of her death, she was wearing a dark floral blouse, dark blue jeans and brown scuff type shoes.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or Capalaba police on 3433 3333.
Police said the Forensic Crash Unit would investigate the circumstances of the fatality.”
The story is currently rating as the most read story on the site – more than likely a result of the slightly misleading headline.
Author Stieg Larsson’s well-known novel “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” has literally sold millions of copies and the film adaptation is currently showing in cinemas, and it’s obvious to me that the Courier Mail journalist used the phrase “woman with dragon tattoo” in the headline intentionally: to get as many hits across the story as possible.
It some ways it’s a fantastic tactic in news headlines: referencing or alluding to a person/event/pop-culture phenomenon that already has a huge audience knowing that that audience is going to be drawn to the article (and damned if we don’t do it all the time at Pedestrian) but, as readers, do we feel as though we’ve been misleaded or manipulated by journalists? Is it a poorly used pun that is disrespectful of the victim and her family, or is it a great way to get more people viewing the article and maybe assist in reaching the woman’s family?
In response to the article, one commenter on the website wrote:
Another wrote:
It’s pretty contentious because there are arguments for both sides of the fence, but do you believe that using the headline is alright or not?
