CNN news coverage

Browsing news stories today, I came across this dandy that was splashed on the front page of CNN.  It's highlighted in yellow, try to ignore Bernie Mac's giant dead head (may it rest in peace) and read the wording of the headline.

Now I'm not usually one to call foul play on the media, I just let them do their thing and try not to trust everything that's said, but in this case I'll make an exception.  If you read carefully (I know the print is small), the headline reads: "American killed in Olympics attack"

If I'm the average reader, I'm thinking one of three things.

1. Oh shit, an athlete was killed by some Chinese conspirators.

2. Oh crap, an athlete's family/friends were killed by some Chinese conspirators.

3. Oh fuck, Chinese people are randomly killing Americans visiting the country for the Olympic games.

Naturally, I read on.  The CNN article, which can be found  here is surprisingly (or not) frugal about the details they're providing on the story.  At first I was surprised, but then I realized their strategy.  Less details in one story = more stories = more readers trying to stay updated = more business etc.  The strange part was certainly the headline though; in reality, that attack was carried out by an older Chinese man upon tourists who happened to be the father and mother in-law of the current men's Olympic volleyball coach.  In the CNN article, it makes no mention of whether or not the attack was related to the Olympics at all; it skirts the issue completely after implying on the front page that the motive behind the attack was in fact Olympic-related.  In another, much more in depth article on ESPN which can be found here, it is reported that the US embassy spokeswoman stressed the fact that this attack was not motivated by anti-US Olympian sentiments, and that there was no apparent reason for these two victims to have been targeted besides being tourists.  The ESPN article really provides the necessary information;  CNN does not.  Go figure.  Fear-mongering from a major news outlet in the year 2008?  Not surprised.  Turning to a sports news outlet for accurate reporting in 2008?  Maybe a little surprised.