Question #3

As per the headline in Question #2, was the headline representative of the article? Please explain your reasoning in detail. (4 Marks) 

For the headline listed above stating “Vending machines had eyes all over this Ontario campus – until the students wised up”, the article that followed was a perfect resemblance of the headline. I believe this is because the headline was a leading statement that led into a story, begging the reader to give into curiosity and read further. There was only one part of the headline that wasn’t specific enough and could mislead readers or turn them off. By saying the vending machines had “eyes” they mean the vending machines were using cameras to use face scanning abilities that revealed a customer’s gender and age – without consent. That’s what they meant by “eyes”, but a reader could misinterpret that and then be confused or turned off when seeing the article is about something they didn’t anticipate based on the headline. Other than that, the headline was very much representative of the article; The prying cameras of the vending machines weren’t labelled to be taking information from students, and one student named Stanley took a stand with his fellow peers to get the 29 machines removed for not asking am opt-in, or consent to gather this demographic information from students. This content resonated with me because it’s a good way to gather demographic info from the vending machines and offer better products, but – just like in email marketing lists and advertising ventures worldwide – they didn’t ask permission to gather this information, making it borderline illegal. That’s beside the point, but a noteworthy takeaway, nonetheless. In conclusion, the headline represented the contents of this article greatly, and should have little room for failure in converting readers to stay for the story, based on the content that leads on from the enticing headline, and the relatable factors that everyone can resonate with, keeping readers interested.