Betteridge's law of headlines
E578397
Betteridge's law of headlines is a humorous adage in journalism and media criticism stating that any headline ending in a question mark can generally be answered with the word “no.”
Statements (39)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
adage
ⓘ
humorous principle ⓘ journalism rule of thumb ⓘ media criticism concept ⓘ |
| appliesTo | headlines ending with a question mark ⓘ |
| characteristic |
informal
ⓘ
non-scientific ⓘ pithy ⓘ |
| concerns | relationship between headlines and article content ⓘ |
| critiques |
leading questions in headlines
ⓘ
unsubstantiated claims framed as questions ⓘ |
| describes | tendency of question headlines to have negative answers ⓘ |
| encourages | skepticism toward question headlines ⓘ |
| field |
journalism
ⓘ
media criticism ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName |
Betteridge’s headline law
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Betteridge’s law NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasCulturalContext | English-language media ⓘ |
| hasExample |
"Could this be the cure for cancer?"
ⓘ
"Is X the future of Y?" ⓘ |
| hasForm | law of headlines NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasHumorousIntent | true ⓘ |
| hasLimitation |
admits many counterexamples
ⓘ
not intended as a strict logical rule ⓘ |
| hasNotableMedium |
blogs
ⓘ
technology journalism ⓘ |
| hasStatus | popular in online media commentary ⓘ |
| hasTone | tongue-in-cheek ⓘ |
| influences | discussion of headline writing practices ⓘ |
| motivatedBy | observation of common journalistic practice ⓘ |
| nameOrigin | Ian Betteridge NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| oftenMentionedAlongside |
Godwin's law
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Poe's law ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
clickbait
ⓘ
question headlines ⓘ sensationalism ⓘ |
| statedAs | Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word "no" ⓘ |
| usedFor |
critiquing sensationalist headlines
ⓘ
media literacy discussions ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.