You are a newspaper editor who supports the opposition to Conservative M.P. Humphrey Humphrey.

Vocabulary Choices:

 HUMPHREY DISCOUNTS ALLEGATIONS
or
"DRUG TALK ALL LIES," SNARLS HUMPHREY

OTTAWA (UBI) Conservative M.P./warhorse and liquor baron/distillery executive Humphrey Humphrey denounced/denied today that reports/allegations implicating/involving him in undercover/subversive drug/dope retailing/peddling were true/had any basis in fact. Addressing a dinner/blowout for colleagues/hangers-on at a swank/exclusive Ottawa restaurant, Humphrey angrily denied/calmly refuted swarms of rumours/numerous reports that he and a gang/group of cronies/acquaintances had sneaked/smuggled into the national's capital/Ottawa lethal doses/dangerous amounts of diluted/adulterated ambrosia under cover of dark/at night.

"Such talk is all lies," snarled/said Humphrey, hunched over/seated with a tumbler of booze/an after-dinner cocktail.

Rumour-mongers/sources around Parliament Hill suggest/hint tonight Humphrey's alleged crime/scrape is the subject of Cabinet investigation/talk. Meantime, Bay Street analysts/mandarins note/point to the fact that Humphrey stock has plummeted/fallen in the last two days/suddenly in the face of/as a result of a wave of panic/selling.

Source: Jim Henderson, Mediascan (Toronto:pub, 1976), pp.40-41

Assignment You have been given the article on Humphrey by one of your reporters. You have the option of choosing from the vocabulary provided. What choices in the vocabulary would you make? How would you have the story placed in your paper? Select the most appropriate headline. Explain the reasons for each of your responses. (Remember that you oppose Humphrey.) Once you have done this, imagine that you are now supportive of Mr. Humphrey. What do you choose to do now? What does this exercise tell us about media values?  Source: Indirections, December 1989, p.76.