Between Nov 15, and Nov 16, Today and Channel Newsasia -both owned by Mediacorp – posted the same article by Sara Grosse online, under slightly different headlines. (‘ComCare applications decrease this year‘ – CNA Nov 15 and ‘Fewer need assistance from Comcare as economy improves‘ – Today Nov 16)
Nothing out of the ordinary, it would seem, as we all know that it is editors, not writers who decide on the headlines, and we can assume that both websites would have different editors.
However, upon closer look, one notices that there is more than just the headlines of the articles which are different. In the Channel Newsasia version, it is written that the ‘maximum duration of assistance given” under the Comcare fund is “three months”.
Interestingly, in the Today online version of the same article, posted on Nov 16, the highlighted sentence is missing!
Considering that Channel Newsasia Online actually has a higher readership than Today Online, it does appear strange that the editor for the Today Online version deemed it necessary to tweak the sentence.
