On our media blog sans serif, edited excerpts from the BBC’s former political editor Andrew Marr‘s memoirs, My Trade. In particular, 12 suggestions for reading a newspaper.

Suggestion No. 5: If the headline asks a question, try answering ‘no’

Is This the True Face of Britain’s Young? (Sensible reader: No.) Have we Found the Cure for AIDS? (No; or you wouldn’t have put the question mark in.) A headline with a question mark at the end means, in the vast majority of cases, that the story is tendentious and oversold. It is often a scare story, or an attempt to elevate some run-of-the-mill piece into a national controversy and, preferably, a national panic

Read the full story here: How to read a newspaper