That’s not a lapse from our sentence-casing standard for headlines, it’s what you get when you spell out WBBM.
” … a racket and a ripoff …”
” … the biggest ripoff ever …”
That’s what I listen to on my drive to and from work — two sleazy-sounding mortgage brokers trashing the legitimate business practices of their far more reputable competitors.
I realize that some of you will find this hard to believe, but there was a day when the standards departments at major media wouldn’t allow one competitor to talk about another in its ads at all, much less wallow in this garbage. They valued their audience more than the money, and talk about “trust” meant something. No more.
I feel sad for the outstanding news professionals who I look forward to hearing in the pauses between sleazes. They’re in danger of becoming tarred with what I’ve come to think of as their employer’s new motto: WBBM-780, We Broadcast Blatant Misrepresentations.