Damn you, USA Today headline editor!!!!!!

I’ve blogged before about the awesome and misplaced power of headline editors.  They can erroneously move markets and piss off bloggers who don’t read through to the end of an article — confuse readers.  Well, USA Today let me down.  Google News sent me to this USA Today story (really a blog post) with the headline, ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

I've blogged before about the awesome and misplaced power of headline editors.  They can erroneously move markets and piss off bloggers who don't read through to the end of an article -- confuse readers. 

I’ve blogged before about the awesome and misplaced power of headline editors.  They can erroneously move markets and piss off bloggers who don’t read through to the end of an article — confuse readers. 

Well, USA Today let me down.  Google News sent me to this USA Today story (really a blog post) with the headline, "Obama says nation needs more nerds."

And I thought to myself, "Yes!!!  Finally, we can expand our power from out current base of Hollywood comic book movie franchises and start to dominate the real corridors of power." 

Alas, there’s nothing in the actual story to suggest that Obama said those words.  Indeed, there’s nothing in the fact sheet on the Cyberspace Policy Review report where Obama says that either. 

Now I must go back to my regularly scheduled work, while adding another headline editor to my list. 

Oh, yes, there’s a list. 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

Tag: Media

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.