Outrageous Headline

This story caught my eye, and after reading it, I was kind of steamed. The story is entitled "Woman gets prison for stealing $7, credit cards," and starts like this:

A Williams Township woman who stole $7 and two credit cards from a woman she supervised at a Hanover Township, Northampton County, business will spend up to two years in prison.

Marlene A. Miller, 52, of 314 Brougher Hill Road, who was caught committing retail theft three times in the past but never went to prison, said she has a lot of stress.

See, I'm supposed to be upset that a woman is going to prison (for 30 days to 2 years) for only stealing $7.

Thing is, she didn't just steal $7. She stole two credit cards. And nowhere in the story are we told what those credit limits were. Which is too bad, because that's the actual amount she stole.

We do know from the story that she charged around $550 illegally on the cards. So maybe the article could have been called "Woman gets prison for stealing $557." Except, of course, that there wouldn't be anything eye-catching about that. No, $7 is the lie that makes this non-story into something that sells newspapers.

I cry WORM on this.