Headline from The Onion:
Bush Awaits
Orders From Rove
On Handling Of Rove Scandal
Again and again since Bush took office we’ve read real headlines that look as if they ought to be from The Onion. That left me wondering what The Onion was going to do to stay ahead of the curve.
Fortunately, the editors there, being smarter than I am, have figured out a new mission: print headlines that report the real events, but which the conventions (and cowardice) of mainstream journalism don’t allow.
The perfect headline, of course, is one that makes it superfluous to read, or even write, the underlying story.
For example:
Bush Awaits
Orders From Rove
On Handling Of Rove Scandal
Really, what more is there to say?
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman