The latest in anti-Trump delirium comes courtesy of a Washington Post headline of the story detailing the death of the head of the Islamic State.
The Washington Post changed the headline of its obituary of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from "terrorist-in-chief" to describe him as an “austere religious scholar.”
U.S. forces killed Baghdadi Saturday after a successful raid on a compound in northern Syria.
While many celebrated the death of the serial rapist and murderer, the Washington Post left many confused by giving him the title of “austere religious scholar at the helm of the Islamic State.”
The Post acknowledged Baghdadi led ISIS with “shocking brutality” but focused much of its obituary on his academic career. “The man who would become the founding leader of the world’s most brutal terrorist group spent his early adult years as an obscure academic, aiming for a quiet life as a professor of Islamic law,” the Post wrote.
The reasons behind the newspaper's decision to tout Baghdadi’s academic career rather than his brutal leadership were unclear. The first version of the story described Baghdadi as the “Islamic State’s terrorist-in-chief,” before it was changed to “austere religious scholar.”
I hate to be cynical, but there has been a concerted effort among media outlets to suppress or undermine any positive news in relation to the Trump administration. As such, you're not likely to convince me that this was not a blatant attempt to somehow humanize a subhuman in order to "own Trump."
Following backlash from the headline referring to Baghdadi as an "austere religious scholar," the Washington Post changed the headline a third time, calling Baghdadi an "extremist leader."
The headline was then changed again to read: "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, extremist leader of Islamic State, dies at 48."
Regarding our al-Baghdadi obituary, the headline should never have read that way and we changed it quickly.— Kristine Coratti Kelly (@kriscoratti) October 27, 2019
I honestly have no idea how the process works in regards to forming headlines for a story. I know it's independent of the actual story writers, but is drafting a headline a collaborative effort or done by an individual? It'll be interesting to find out if there will be any repercussions for anyone who formed something that "should never have read that way."
Since before he was inaugurated, Trump has labeled many mainstream news outlets as "fake news." In response, the WaPo crafted the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness." At the Post, prudence and common sense apparently get bludgeoned in broad daylight.
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