Using a question for a headline entices readers with deception. The question-headline implies that (1) the article will focus on the question and (2) deliver a clear cut answer. Instead it delivers disappointment on both fronts. For example, a headline yesterday asked, "Will Michele Bachmann's gaffes hurt her presidential candidacy?" As if an underpaid junk peddler at The Christian Science Monitor can tell the future. The article was really an excuse to again cover her recent "gaffes". A reader might also assume that the article writer seeks his opinion on the matter. But, no.
The question-headline also has a more dubious function. It posits doubt and/or masks an accusation. Asking "Will Michele Bachmann's gaffes hurt her presidential candidacy?" is the same as reporting that Some people say Michele Bachmann makes a lot of gaffes. So the question highlights the doubt or accusation. Another example, today The Christian Science Monitor (which is just full of questions lately) asks, "Obama's push to boost tax revenues: Will voters approve?" The question implies that Many voters will not approve of Obama.The question-headline is also no different from other headlines in that it frames the conversation. In this case, readers are forced to think of Obama in terms of his acceptability rather than consider the real question behind his proposal: Should people pay taxes in proportion to the benefits they derive from society? And you can't answer that without first defining what services our taxes, when filtered through State apparatus, should provide. But rather than encourage debate, the media force-feeds us contrived drama.
