After ESPN decided to pull Hank Williams Jr.'s "Are You Ready?" Monday Night Football theme song last Monday following his remarks on President Obama golfing with House Speaker John Boehner, the media had a field day and produced some very bold titles that over-simplified his statement for the purpose of shock value. You can find that here, here, here and here.
Many headlines each included an over-simplified idea that Williams directly compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler. What person wouldn't be curious to click on a link if the title compared America's president to the most evil human that ever lived? These headlines were chosen on purpose with the intention of making it appear as if Williams had said something much bolder, more direct and more preposterous.
But, this wasn't the case. Williams, who has political ambitions, simply implied that Obama golfing with Boehner was like Hitler golfing with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Is that as an extreme comparison? Yes. But, it wasn't nearly as extreme as the way the media presented it.
One story from CNN never even stated what Williams said, and only mentioned that he compared Obama to Hitler. The story included quotes from others that made it appear as if Williams directly implied Obama was Hitler. How can you claim to have a fair, honest report when you don't even include what Williams said? In this case, the actual story was biased, not just the title.
Yahoo!News produced the worst title of them all with "Are you ready from some Hitler?" - which is a spin-off of the 'are you ready for some football" lyric. Puns and jokes don't belong in news titles. Also, if Williams is accused of offending the Holocaust survivors by his analogy, how well do you think the title "Are you ready for some Hitler?" sits with them?
Most of the media produced headlines such as the aforementioned ones, but then explained directly what Williams said in the body of the story. While the body may have been accurate, the title was completely over-dramatized.
A better option would have been to use the term analogy in the title, or better yet, too simply say that ESPN pulled Williams' song over political statements. I think it is fair that this ordeal wound up in the news, but the way it was presented, specifically in titles, was completely unethical based on it being blown out of proportion for shock value.
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