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When the Headline Tells the Wrong Story
The article, by Wall Street Journal economics reporter Gabriel T. Rubin, was a straightforward five-paragraph account of January price increases in grocery items such as eggs, frozen orange juice, breakfast cereals, and instant coffee. Causes included severe weather, an outbreak of avian flu, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Rubin reported.
The headline, however, came to its own conclusion.
An editor at the Journal — a publication not generally known for sensationalism in its news pages —had twisted Rubin’s routine report on the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers into a piece of snarky advice: “To Save Money, Maybe You Should Skip Breakfast.”
As they say in Clickbait 101, you won’t believe what happened next.
Or maybe you will.
On Twitter and beyond, there was little evidence that anyone read past the headline.
From the right: “This is America under Joe Biden… the people should skip breakfast because of inflation!!!”
From the left: “Republicans would rather see families starve than hold big corporations accountable for price gouging.”
From an advocate for labor: “Groceries too expensive? Just stop eating, you poors.”
