Hi, Bill. Thank you for your question. News organizations need to provide sufficient context to not mislead the public — and need to provide it where everyone can see it — even people behind a paywall who see only the headline in a tweet. If that makes the headline too long, too bad. Conveying truth — not misinformation — to the public, is a news organization’s basic function — or should be. That’s more important than short headlines. When news organizations tweet about an article, they should provide necessary context too. If that means a tweet thread rather than a single tweet, so be it.

Laziness is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. There are times when it’s ok to give in to it. A situation where the public could be seriously misled is a situation where news organizations should forcefully resist laziness and over-simplicity.

When considering reporting on GOP lies, reporters should ask themselves: “Is this news? Will it affect the public?” If it is truly news — not just one of the thousands of not particularly impactful lies that Republican politicians and pundits tell 24/7/365 — then it should be reported.

I favor George Lakoff’s “truth sandwich” for doing this kind of reporting. First tell the truth about the issue. Then report the lie, making it clear that it’s a lie. Then state the truth again. In this case, neither the headline nor the lede would focus on the lie or the liar. The focus should be on the truth that the public needs to know, to understand what is happening in our political system — info that will help the public to be fully informed voters and citizens.