Headlines from the “Onion” are hardly worth mentioning. You are missing the point.
[quote=“Soddom”]This wasn’t the issue anyway but your prescriptivism is unfounded…etc.[/quote]I feel compelled to point out that the subject of the first sentence you gave as an example is “quality” (singular), not “media” (strictly plural but sloppily singular.)
The difference between media and some other plural nouns which are often or usually treated as singular, like data and agenda, is that the singular word medium is in common use, unlike datum or agendum. Television is a broadcast medium. Television and radio are broadcast media.
This singular/plural business is not a straightforware issue. See http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/plurals.html).
And now back to the subject of this thread, whatever that was
Just wait and see if Jimmy Lai gets his way, and releases that filthy Hong Kong Apple Daily in Taiwan… then we’ll all have something to moan about! 
A headline like the one quoted at the beginning of this thread is purely media competition, nothing more; just like the other threads that have been discussed here in recent weeks pertaining to the accuracy and integrity of newspaper headlines. Not news, not important.
As Denzel Washinton said in 'Training Day: [quote]“This is a newspaper. And I know it’s ninety percent bullshit but it’s entertaining. That’s why I read it. Because it entertains me. If you won’t let me read my paper, then entertain me with your bullshit. Tell me a story.”[/quote]
-Dave 
Do you mean like “cherub” and “cherubim”?
Sorry, Mr. Reinhold, I was trying to be funny.
As that great Scot John Anderson used to say on TV’s Gladiators,
“Wolf, this is a yellow card!”
I wonder if he got to knob Ulrika too?
Interesting article.
[quote]Some people prefer treating media as a fused entity made up of all print, broadcast and Web journalists (“the media is partly to blame for violence at school.”)
Others argue it should be a plural term (“the media have let the government get away with murder.”)[/quote]
Knowing this, the point of your criticising my ‘mistake’ was what I wonder?. Personally, I’d be feeling rather 
[quote=“Soddom”][quote]Some people prefer treating media as a fused entity made up of all print, broadcast and Web journalists (“the media is partly to blame for violence at school.”) Others argue it should be a plural term (“the media have let the government get away with murder.”)[/quote]Knowing this, the point of your criticising my ‘mistake’ was what I wonder? Personally, I’d be feeling rather 
[/quote]The point is that you are one of “some people” and I am one of the “others.” You can be sloppy if you like, but I prefer to have some standards.
And now…er…back to…er…what was it?
Oh, humor. Yes, I get it. Haha.
So sorry old chap. I must have had a cornwaddle stuck in my wangbat. Won’t happen again. 
Sure. But once you get your camel head out of the sand, you’re welcome to slip around with the rest of the ignorant masses. Oh heck! I began a sentence with but! Standards Mostin, standards. 
Talking of headlines, anyone see this one on the front page of the China Post today? Do they still have native speakers working there? Or is it simply that the foreign copy editors are completely brain-dead?
North Korea demanded to abandon nuclear program
Listen Wolf, it’s not my fault you never got any votes for funniest poster so don’t start chucking your toys out of the pram, Ok?
And in other news,
JUBA VOTED MOST PEDANTIC HUMAN - EVER!
Is that misleading anybody?
[quote=“Rory Butternuts”]JUBA VOTED MOST PEDANTIC HUMAN - EVER![/quote]Thanks, it’s my job to be pedantic 
I love headlines which ever so subtly hint at the journalist’s personal opinions on a particular subject.
“Salute for President who sent no soldiers to war”: headline for article about Carter’s Nobel peace prize in The Guardian by Jonathan Steele.
Can’t imagine what his views are regarding the impending war against Iraq, can you? Actually, I love the Guardian because its journos don’t even pretend to impartially assess current events. They are so anti-Bush it is almost, no, it is definitely, comical.
They’re proud of it and they don’t try to hide whose side they are on. Why should they? They never let balanced reporting get in the way of a good story as the cliche goes. I heartily recommend The Guardian to anyone with a sense of humour.
You’re right Spack, there’s no need to give slanted reporting. Just reporting what Bush says is comedy enough. 
“We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.” —George W. Bush, Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
“There’s no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide.” —George W. Bush, Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002
“I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn’t here.” —George W. Bush, speaking at the President’s Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
“The trial lawyers are very politically powerful. … But here in Texas we took them on and got some good medical — medical malpractice.” —George W. Bush, Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
“The problem with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.” —George W. Bush, discussing the decline of the French economy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair
“There was no malfeance involved. This was an honest disagreement about accounting procedures. … There was no malfeance, no attempt to hide anything.” —George W. Bush, White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 8, 2002
“Do you have blacks, too?” —George W. Bush, to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Nov. 8, 2001, as reported in an April 28, 2002, Estado Sao Pauloan column by Fernando Pedreira, a close friend of President Cardoso
“This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.” —George W. Bush, as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
“It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber.” —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 10, 2002
“Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of (Dr. Seuss’s) ‘Hop on Pop.’” —George W. Bush, in a speech about childhood education, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2002
“We’ve tripled the amount of money — I believe it’s from $50 million up to $195 million available.” —George W. Bush, Lima, Peru, March 23, 2002
“I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah.” —George W. Bush, at a White House Menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001
“We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.” —George W. Bush, at a news conference in Europe, June 14, 2001
“Anyway, I’m so thankful, and so gracious — I’m gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well.” —George W. Bush, June 4, 2001
“For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It’s just unacceptable. And we’re going to do something about it.” —George W. Bush, May 14
“There’s no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead.” —George W. Bush, May 11, 2001
“First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country.” —George W. Bush, on the Kyoto accord, April 24, 2001
I’ve always thought that the appropriate ratio of fatal shootings to non-fatal shootings in the USA should be 300:1
FedEx truck explodes on Missouri highway
This headline from CNN’s Website immediately made me suspect that a bomb had been planted on the truck and maybe I’m just being cynical but I feel CNN, although factually correct, squeezes every drop out of every “possible” “terror” incident.
In the very last paragraph, a highway patrolman is quoted as saying it was nothing more than a traffic accident.
Headline from today’s New York Times:
“Arab Media Portray War as Killing Field”
