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Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

wsj.com

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Re: Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

#4

Post by jpadkins »

herodotus wrote: post #2

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I find this headline to be extremely strange. Why not "Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd has Died"? Surely the news is his death, not the announcement?

good journalistic practice is to not report something as fact until it is independently verified. So in the online world with a rush to push the article, the headline has to reflect what they actually know ('oracle reported'). They will probably update the headline once they get confirmation.

Re: Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

#5

Post by jszymborski »

herodotus wrote: post #2

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I find this headline to be extremely strange. Why not "Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd has Died"? Surely the news is his death, not the announcement?

Agreed, I had the same immediate reaction. Almost as if they were making an implicit claim that Oracle might have a reason for claiming he has died when he might not have.

But ultimately, I think this is just journalist practice when reporting things as they happen. Until things are more certain, it's more prudent to report the announcement than the event.

Re: Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

#8

Post by mc32 »

herodotus wrote: post #2

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I find this headline to be extremely strange. Why not "Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd has Died"? Surely the news is his death, not the announcement?

It might be an attempt to play on the word “Oracle”, but I don’t think death announcements are a good time to play with words... so, not sure.

Re: Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

#9

Post by tptacek »

papermachete wrote: post #7
Lukesys wrote: post #3

[flagged]

It's against the rules, by the way. They clearly state OP must provide a workaround to the paywall. Of course, outline.com doesn't support wsj, big surprise.

It's obviously not against the rules, as you can see from the search bar of 'dang comments on WSJ stories. If you can find a better story, it can get swapped in for this one; suggest it. Otherwise: complaining about paywalls actually is against the rules.

Re: Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died

#10

Post by netsharc »

jpadkins wrote: post #4
herodotus wrote: post #2

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I find this headline to be extremely strange. Why not "Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd has Died"? Surely the news is his death, not the announcement?

good journalistic practice is to not report something as fact until it is independently verified. So in the online world with a rush to push the article, the headline has to reflect what they actually know ('oracle reported'). They will probably update the headline once they get confirmation.

A lot of times headlines use quotes to indicate that someone other than than the news org said it. But I wonder how many readers are barely literate and don't realize this.

In this case the headline could be;

Orace Co-CEO Mark Hurd 'has died'

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