Find the "PRESSURE"

A common response to deflect criticism about misleading headlines in the newspaper business is to say that the reporters don't write the headlines, as if the only party that critics are willing to blame is the reporter. Or, because an article's author and the headline writers are different people, the separation is intrinsically entitled to produce discrepancies. It's a weak argument at best, because the news organization is still responsible for every word it prints or posts.

The subtle (but effective) misrepresentations that most liberal media outlets employ are barely even recognized by the majority of people who tend to skim over many articles, reading only the headlines and the first few paragraphs. After all, who's got the time, or the inclination, to read an entire article with a critical eye, looking for inconsistencies in the reporting, except for news nerds like me.

This article on CNN Politics site is a prime example of the media not merely informing (especially since it's misinforming) but influencing it's readers. The headline reads: "Bush ups pressure on House to pass intelligence bill". Leaving aside the poor grammar of using the slang term ups instead of increases, the message of the headline is that President Bush somehow increased the amount of pressure that he and other parties have thus far exerted on the members of the House of Representatives to make the Protect America Act permanent.
However, the article includes no description or examples of any kind of "pressure" tactics that the president is employing to influence house members to vote one way or another.

It doesn't cite, for example, any warnings the president may have given that he'll veto other bills that the House and Senate have passed, if they don't pass this one. It doesn't describe, in any manner, exactly what use of his authority the president has exercised, is exercising, or may exercise to induce action by the House. No committee assignments have been threatened. Nancy Pelosi's office hasn't been moved to the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. No-one's spouses or children have been intimidated. No cars have even been egged or homes T.P'd in connection with this bill.

I suspect that CNN merely wants to plant another impression in the reader that President Bush is pushy and demanding. They want to influence (not inform) the reader towards viewing our president as a manipulative controller who abuses the power of his position to get his way, especially when it involves warrantless wire taps and internet traffic surveillance.