When Headlines Lie

One big pet peeve is headlines that lie. I don't mind sensationalized headlines. But I hate it when the story says the opposite of the headline.

For instance... "Patriots fans blast Robert Kraft, Tom Brady over Donald Trump endorsement."

I knew that Brady talked of his friendship with Trump last football season and wore a "Make America Great Again" cap, but retracted his "endorsement" a couple of days later. I also knew that Kraft had made at least one cameo on Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. 

But I didn't hear of a new, official endorsement from either. I clicked to read the story.

Turns out, "neither Brady nor Kraft officially endorsed Trump."

The linked story of Kraft's relationship with Trump even has the sub-headline, "Don't call it an endorsement, but Robert Kraft really likes Donald Trump." The story goes on to say that Kraft doesn't like to discuss politics but was very appreciative of Trump's support when his wife died.

So...

• Kraft and Brady are friends with Trump. That's not news. Rich and famous people have rich and famous friends. No reasonable person would hold the mere friendship against them.
• Neither has formally endorsed Trump.
• Fox Sports writes about voter reaction to Brady's and Kraft's endorsements of Trump, which they never made.

I understand trivial, filler news pieces. I understand biased news.

But dishonest headlines to attract readers is unacceptable.