That may be true, however there is still quite a disconnect between the intended "quoting" and resulting 'scare quote' issue. Basically, without knowing the quote, it adds a pile of sarcasm to the title roughly equivalent to:
When something is quoted in a newspaper, it's just that: a quote. Unfortunately, some editors will pick quotes selectively in order to sensationalize the headline, but that doesn't mean a quoted phrase is meant to be suspect.
To wit:
Area woman "terrified" by Sex Predadtor - implies the woman, when asked, said she was terrified, not that "terrified" should be taken with a grain of salt.
Not necessarily. Try reading " 'brilliant' " as " described by his colleagues as 'brilliant' ", take into account the well respected people that he worked with and its a far higher compliment than the article writer, who is almost certainly not a programmer, could possibly offer.
wow, I couldn't believe it either. A scare quote headline with a full suicide note republished. I did notice no one at the Huffington Post would attach their name to this trash.
If you look at about half the comments in this subthread (including the grandparent of yours), you would see that these are not scare quotes — they're the normal kind of quotes, which indicate a quotation.
so-called smart guy kills himself
It's just sad.