Metro's headline turns an Age UK figure about older people's limited internet use into 2.4 million Britons cut off from their families. It calls the copper landline switch-off a permanent blackout, when its own body says most people have already moved to internet based landlines. The article also tells readers that all contact with family and friends will cease in a Black Sky event, which its own quoted mobile and walkie-talkie advice contradicts.
Headline goes beyond the article
Serious
“set to cut 2.4 million Brits off from their loved ones”
Why this matters
The headline says 2.4 million Brits will be cut off from their loved ones.
The impression it gives
A reader believes 2.4 million people will lose all contact with their families when copper landlines end.
The context
The only 2.4 million figure in the body is Age UK's count of older people with limited or no internet use. Nobody in the article says that number of people will be cut off from anyone.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“2.4 million older people have limited use of the internet, or no internet at all”
The headline calls the end of the copper telephone network a permanent blackout.
The impression it gives
A reader believes the switch-off is a lasting loss of power or of phone service.
The context
The body describes a switchover to internet based landlines. Age UK says most people have already moved over without major problems. No power is being cut.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“Most people have moved over without major problems”
Elsewhere in the article“switched to an internet based landline”
“all communications between your family and friends will cease”
Why this matters
In its own voice Metro says that in a Black Sky event all communication between family and friends will stop.
The impression it gives
A reader believes that without copper landlines there will be no way at all to reach relatives in a grid failure.
The context
The article's own sources say mobile phones and data may still work, that texts are the best chance of getting through, and that walkie-talkies let people keep in touch with neighbours and nearby relatives.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“While mobile phones may still work, and mobile data may also be available”
Elsewhere in the article“Your best chance in this scenario is communicating via text”
Elsewhere in the article“lets you keep in touch with a neighbour or a relative down the road”
Written straight
If a Black Sky event hits, calls may be hard to make once copper landlines are gone, though mobile networks and texts may still get through under strain.