Orwell Would be Amused

While I am not particularly interested in what happened to Google executive Forrest Hayes that led to his death, I have to say that this story is creating all sorts of amusing repercussions in how the media are trying to cover it. I first learned the news through a story that Alan Wong filed on the ABC7 Web site, which was run with the headline:

SANTA CRUZ POLICE: HIGH TECH MOGUL MURDERED BY PROSTITUTE

Needless to say, this story was "hot" enough to escalate to the ABC News national desk. However, a funny thing happened along the way. Here is today's headline for a story filed by Colleen Curry:

ALLEGED CALL GIRL PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN DEATH OF GOOGLE EXEC

Apparently, Alex Tichelman's "profession" is now only "alleged." Is this the work of editors or lawyers? The same applies to a "background" hyperlink in Curry's article. The text and link appear in the article as follows:

Woman Allegedly Injected Google Exec With Heroin, Left Him to Die

Those who follow the link, however, will encounter this headline:

Prostitute Injected Google Exec With Heroin, Left Him to Die on Yacht, Police Say

I suppose there is some journalistic code of ethics that you cannot report sleaze without whitewashing it with a bit of journalistic legerdemain; and, if that includes rewriting the past, then so be it!