Comments:Thousands take to streets protesting 'ratbag's Bedroom Tax

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Jeez.1323:31, 19 August 2013

Wow guys, did you really have to refer to Iain Duncan-Smith as "ratbag" in the title of the article? That may be what's on the t-shirts, but you're a journalism site. You really shouldn't be effectively "name calling" in the title of a piece. Get a grip, dudes. Seriously. "Thousands take to streets to protest Bedroom Tax" would have been perfectly fine. Don't get me wrong, I don't support what the dude is doing, but I don't support the way you addressed the guy in the article name.

Humblesnore (talk)01:45, 1 April 2013

When reviewing the article, that struck me as simply an attention-grabber, descriptive of the protest. I understand your position, and certainly wouldn't have objected had the reporter chosen to title it as you suggest, but the headline doesn't strike me as implying a POV.

We did have problems with the punctuation in the headline. The word "ratbag" is a direct quote, so should be in double quotes in the article, single quotes in the headline, but it's not clear how best to form the possessive form of a single-quoted word. So we put the word in its single-quotes and then let the closing single-quote merge with the possessive apostrophe.

Pi zero (talk)03:17, 1 April 2013
 

The "product" of the project is the articles, and in this case a bunch of photos I hope tell a good story. Did the provocative headline make you more keen to read it? They're taking orders for the "ratbag" tee-shirts now, which is another reflection that quoting the word in the headline was justified.

Brian McNeil / talk03:43, 1 April 2013

The provocative headline actually made me more inclined to avoid it, rather than read it. Journalism is about getting people to read based on the quality of the work, not the use of shock headlines to attract the most mindless to open it just to see what all the fuss is about.

Humblesnore (talk)12:33, 1 April 2013

This reeks of someone who starts by resolving to deride Wikinews, and invents a "reason" to do so. See On Bullshit.

Pi zero (talk)13:38, 1 April 2013

Fair enough. If that's what you think of my comments, and me, I simply won't come back. I'm entitled to an opinion, and if this is how you treat everyone who comes on Wikinews and uses their first comments to criticize the site's work, I wonder how you manage to get people to work for you. As for me though, I'm finished. Congratulations.

Humblesnore (talk)20:05, 1 April 2013

As an alternative reaction, you could prove you're not trolling. If you're not trolling.

Pi zero (talk)22:04, 1 April 2013
 
 
 
 

Is there some connection between the lable "ratbag" and the tax? The definition, for those of us who have not had a chance to chase down rats refers to what "rat catchers" used "who carried a 'rat bag'." So is Harry saying that Iain Duncan Smith is a person of multiple personalities, all of whom are rats, or that he represents a bunch of rats? Its hard for foriengers to get the meaning clearly...

89.214.197.22 (talk)23:31, 19 August 2013