Sensationalize This

I lost some respect for the New York Times today. The main headline on the New York Times website, NYTimes.com, in the mid-morning read, "Tainted Drugs Tied to Maker of Abortion Pill" (login required?) a story about cancer patients in China becoming paralyzed after taking contaminated drugs. The Times is really going after those shock and awe hits with this title. The headline and the following article is disgusting for a few reasons. First off, linking the always hated "abortion pill" with the harm of cancer patients (a group that will always be a favorite to feel sorry for) is not doing any good for the plight of choice in America. Second, the title implies that the abortion pill is tainted and therefore worth a second glance by the FDA before we let anyone else get hurt. But I think the thing that irks me the most is that the Times needed to mention RU-486 (aka "the abortion pill) at all. The article is about a pill for leukemia and has nothing to do with abortion, the potential harm taking the abortion pill could cause or ANYTHING to do with (or the lack of) sexual reproduction AT ALL. In fact, as the article states, "(RU-486) is made at a factory different from the one that produced the tainted cancer drugs, about an hour’s drive away." Clearly, the Times is just putting a little fear in our hearts and a smile on the faces of those that are anti-abortion.

This ridiculous headline comes right at the heels of an interesting article over at Slate.com bemoaning inane headlines on cable news sites like Foxnews and CNN. As I read the article that quoted headlines like "British Teen Films Herself Trying To Kill Parents" and "Elementary School Principal Charged in Sexual Assault" I was glad that I didn't read any of those website instead opting for more "intellectual" (I am really smart) sites like the New York Times. After the Times headline today I guess no one is safe from the stupidity the internet forces news sites to lower themselves to in order to receive the maximum amount of hits per day. The Slate article compares these sensationalist headlines to tabloids on gossip sites like TMZ and mention that sex and missing/dead babies are the favorite headline topics for cable news. In my mind, this Times article is no different.

Further Reading:
Ann at Feministing adds some interesting points to this discussion that I didn't mention above.
Not sure what RU-486 is? Wiki-it.