Past the headline

Headlines are written to be read in a second and shared in two. They are often written by someone other than the reporter, and they squeeze out the qualifiers.

A headline about a food being "linked to longer lives" can sit above a story that says one study found an association in one group of people, and that the researchers urge caution. The headline is not false, but it is not the whole story.

Before sharing or arguing about a story, read at least the first few paragraphs. That is usually where the who, how many and how sure live.