TL;DR – Terrible headlines that will remind you why we don’t bother with mainstream media anymore.
There have been much criticism thrown at our mainstream media. From the lack of press freedom to the sheer lack of quality. And ever so often, the mainstream media prove their detractors right. Over the past week, three headlines, one each in CNA, TODAY and Straits Times remind me why I don’t read mainstream media anymore.
Headline 1 from CNA:
79% of international school students are foreigners: MTI
Er… You mean it’s newsworthy that the majority of students in international schools are… international? Ok… And in other news… Water. Is. Wet.
Headline 2 from Straits Times:
Rise in major breakdowns but MRT gets more reliable: LTA
Say what now? So if I take more MC, my productivity can still go up? Looks like there’s a rise in crappy headlines, but credibility of newspapers go up. Or not…
Headline 3 from TODAY:
Singaporean core does not mean S’poreans only, says Chun Sing
This headline makes it sound like Minister Chan Chun Sing said something really stupid. I mean… of course Singaporean core, by definition, is Singaporeans only right? So why say Singaporean core does not mean Singaporeans only? Did a screw come loose in Minister Chan’s head?
Well… as it turns out, Minister Chan DIDN’T say that Singaporean core does not mean Singaporeans only. His exact words were
“We believe in urging and working with all the companies to build a strong Singapore core. But that Singapore core does not mean that it is a all Singaporean workforce only.”
By the way, he actually said ‘Singapore Core‘ and not ‘Singaporean Core‘. Someone actually counted. He said that all of seven times during his budget debate speech on Monday.
Don’t believe me? Watch this excerpt of his speech:
The moral of the story here is,
if you are still getting your news from the mainstream media, please don’t just read the headlines.
Image credits: CNA, Straits Times, TODAY via Facebook