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I...okay, that headline is just bad. Core issue: "A small gear may be defective in some cars; you should come into the service center and get it checked. If

by Lazare 10y ago

I...okay, that headline is just bad. Core issue: "A small gear may be defective in some cars; you should come into the service center and get it checked. If it breaks, you may be unable to disengage the parking brake." Headline: "Massive recall over brake issue!" It's not technically wrong. But it misleads more than it informs.

badestrand 10y ago
I don't think you could write the headline any less sensational and more informative. Tesla has to repair 53.000 cars, this is in itself newsworthy as it becomes clear that they are struggling with the same issues as any other car manufacturer and it should be a challenge to their operational logistics.
- qq66 10y ago
  Sure you could, just add "parking" before "brake." A brake issue is serious when it prevents a car from stopping -- not so much when it keeps a car stopped.
- function_seven 10y ago
  Until I read the parent comment, I was thinking that the issue was with cars being unable to stop. The omission of “parking” from the headline is not an accident.
- Gustomaximus 10y ago
  "Tesla Recommends Parking Break Update"
  - caf 10y ago
    I would hope that the BBC had better spelling than that!
    - Gustomaximus 10y ago
      Haha yes... I'll leave editing for others amusement.
- Lazare 10y ago
  > Tesla has to repair 53.000 cars, this is in itself newsworthy You're right, that would be very newsworthy! Of course, it's not true, which I think rather supports my point about the headline. (If you read the article, the number of repairs needed is actually only ~1k, because only 2% of the 53k cars actually has a faulty gear that needs replacement. The recall is for 53k cars because they don't know which 2% has the issue, so the headline is technically true, but there's a big difference between "Tesla shipped 53k defective cars" and "Tesla shipped 1k defective cars". The former is much more newsworthy! But also false.)
- tigershark 10y ago
  No. It's false. Tesla has to repair the 2% of 53k car produced (that is ~1k) for a minor problem that if occurs can make the car stuck with the parking brake engaged. Reading just the headline everyone would think that the owners of 53k are in immediate danger because the brakes are broken. If you still can't see the humongous difference then I have no idea what else to say.
IBM 10y ago
What? It's "Tesla recalls 53,000 cars over brake issue" which is the same as the headline on the HN post. I'm pretty used to the Tesla/Elon sycophants on HN (and Reddit and Twitter for that matter) but fabricating a headline to knock down is pretty brazen.
- BinaryIdiot 10y ago
  > fabricating a headline to knock down is pretty brazen. Parent's "quote" was just a paraphrase. Calling it a fabrication is a bit much, don't you think? Anyway, it deserves a knock down, IMO, because the first instinct when reading it is that there is an issue with the breaks that people most commonly use. Using the parking break isn't nearly as common or frequent as the regular breaks. Simply adding "parking" into the headline would have made it far less sensational and far more accurate.
- kayoone 10y ago
  The BBC headline is sensationalist and deserves being critiqued for being click-bait. Makes it sound like tens of thousands of people could potentially drive around with not-working brakes, while the actual issue is pretty minor and just related to the parking brake.
dheera 10y ago
Except if they wrote a good headline, it would not be upvoted to the front page. Such is the value system we have created.
cel1ne 10y ago
In my experience journalists often have the headline they WANT to write in their head prior to the unfolding of the real story.
- mb4nck 10y ago
  To the contrary, I think journalists often only get to advise on the headline, and the editors then choose/override one to their liking.

by Lazare 10y ago

badestrand 10y ago

I don't think you could write the headline any less sensational and more informative. Tesla has to repair 53.000 cars, this is in itself newsworthy as it becomes clear that they are struggling with the same issues as any other car manufacturer and it should be a challenge to their operational logistics.

qq66 10y ago
Sure you could, just add "parking" before "brake." A brake issue is serious when it prevents a car from stopping -- not so much when it keeps a car stopped.
function_seven 10y ago
Until I read the parent comment, I was thinking that the issue was with cars being unable to stop. The omission of “parking” from the headline is not an accident.
Gustomaximus 10y ago
"Tesla Recommends Parking Break Update"
- caf 10y ago
  I would hope that the BBC had better spelling than that!
  - Gustomaximus 10y ago
    Haha yes... I'll leave editing for others amusement.
Lazare 10y ago
> Tesla has to repair 53.000 cars, this is in itself newsworthy You're right, that would be very newsworthy! Of course, it's not true, which I think rather supports my point about the headline. (If you read the article, the number of repairs needed is actually only ~1k, because only 2% of the 53k cars actually has a faulty gear that needs replacement. The recall is for 53k cars because they don't know which 2% has the issue, so the headline is technically true, but there's a big difference between "Tesla shipped 53k defective cars" and "Tesla shipped 1k defective cars". The former is much more newsworthy! But also false.)
tigershark 10y ago
No. It's false. Tesla has to repair the 2% of 53k car produced (that is ~1k) for a minor problem that if occurs can make the car stuck with the parking brake engaged. Reading just the headline everyone would think that the owners of 53k are in immediate danger because the brakes are broken. If you still can't see the humongous difference then I have no idea what else to say.

IBM 10y ago

What? It's "Tesla recalls 53,000 cars over brake issue" which is the same as the headline on the HN post. I'm pretty used to the Tesla/Elon sycophants on HN (and Reddit and Twitter for that matter) but fabricating a headline to knock down is pretty brazen.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago
> fabricating a headline to knock down is pretty brazen. Parent's "quote" was just a paraphrase. Calling it a fabrication is a bit much, don't you think? Anyway, it deserves a knock down, IMO, because the first instinct when reading it is that there is an issue with the breaks that people most commonly use. Using the parking break isn't nearly as common or frequent as the regular breaks. Simply adding "parking" into the headline would have made it far less sensational and far more accurate.
kayoone 10y ago
The BBC headline is sensationalist and deserves being critiqued for being click-bait. Makes it sound like tens of thousands of people could potentially drive around with not-working brakes, while the actual issue is pretty minor and just related to the parking brake.

dheera 10y ago

Except if they wrote a good headline, it would not be upvoted to the front page. Such is the value system we have created.

cel1ne 10y ago

In my experience journalists often have the headline they WANT to write in their head prior to the unfolding of the real story.

mb4nck 10y ago
To the contrary, I think journalists often only get to advise on the headline, and the editors then choose/override one to their liking.