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Chanting "Bettridge's Law" simply because the headline is a question certainly isn't helpful but that's because it's inaccurate.

As Bettridge himself said:

> they know that story is probably bullshit, and don’t actually have the sources and facts to back it up, but still want to run it

Identifying a headline & story as an example of Bettridge's Law of Headlines should highlight that the headline is nasty link-bait phrased as a question purely to manipulate the reader and that the article provides no insight – in fact it merely serves to further highlight the insidious nature of the headline and the nasty journalistic choices of the author.




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