Capsulizing a 500-1,000-word article in four or five words is hard. Enticing a particular readership might be part of the job, but I’ve noticed that Desert News headlines often sensationalize the content of the article.
Deseret News headlines often have a bias, and the recent headline that bothered me enough to write a letter was misquoting state epidemiologist and head of the Salt Lake County Health Department, Dr. Angela Dunn. The headline hacked up Dunn’s comments and rearranged them to make the point the headline writer wanted to make.
Dunn is an MD/Ph.D. whose reputation is held in high regard by fellow physicians and scientists. Her words impact the citizens of our state. Dunn isn’t political, she is factual.
So a headline reading “Dunn says catching Covid-19 was no big deal” is spreading misinformation, which according to many who study the issue, is the reason our country is divided.
The point Dunn wanted to make was that if people follow the guidelines set out by the health department, they are less likely to become severely ill. But the comments below your article prove that few people understood that message. They only read the headline.
Kathy Adams
Salt Lake City