It's All About The Story

Came across this article this morning:

How Neanderthals met a grisly fate

It's a short but interesting article, though I wonder if anyone else had the same thought I did within the first paragraph or two, namely, isn't extrapolating extermination of a large group based on one jawbone a wee bit...well...bad science? What struck me was that, yes, this point of view was indeed expressed down at the end of the article, but it also got me thinking about the paradox of news reporting. On the one hand, it's supposed to be 'just the facts, ma'am', right? But, on the other...you want people to read YOUR story, not another one. Thus, you need a great hook at the beginning. Fair enough. But then I wonder - how many times does a reader just skim the start of the article and think "ZOMG! CANNIBALS!", and never get to the end of things and be reminded that this is just a *theory*, and a controversial one at that.

Too much pondering on one cup of coffee.