Too Clever in the Headline Game
/“At some point on this thread I need to make the point that I never declared “Peak Oil is Dead” but there is a view in “the media” that it is and the 4 nails I give explains why this view exists. The points I make are the counter arguments which I hope influence the thinking of other media commentators. Peak Oil is lying in a coffin, the lid hammered half shut, either buried alive or about to explode back to the surface with a vengeance...”
Over in the Oil Drum, Euan Mearns uses a bit of a bait and switch to great effect, His title suggests one thing, and in doing so he gets a lot of Peak Oil critics (like Mark Perry) to link to it - but in fact the content of the article discusses the opposite - showing how Peak Oil is still relevant and critical. And the quote above from the comments explains his thinking.
But on the other hand, it may be too cute by half. Part of understanding the "headline game" in media is to know that most people don't read stuff anyway. People are busy, they skim, they summarize, and draw conclusions sometimes from the title alone. So while the article does discuss these matters properly, most people won't read the article - and their only exposure to it will be the title "Three Nails in the Coffin of Peak Oil" beamed around the world without context. And that's a net loss. Better to use a straight-forward title that communicates directly even to the speed readers.
