How to catch eyeballs

The technique is as old as the hills, to borrow an old cliché. Online, the Washington Post headline blared, "House Republicans seek chance to rebuke President Obama over Libya." The subhead teased, "House is likely to vote today to strip funding for offensive military operations in Libya." The implication: President Obama is in trouble. Clicking into the story, the first graf raises the stakes higher for the embattled Obama with more details. Then, in the third graf, we encounter the "just kidding" revelation: "[T]he resolution is unlikely to have any real-world effect, because the Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to approve it." Oh. Another reader harpooned, another page visit captured, another half-cent banked. Ready for another? Dana Milbank: "Progressives voice their anger at Obama." (But not really.) Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Ain't news media capitalism grand? ;-)