Joseph Smith Headlines Went Too Far Newsweek posted a red-hot headline: “Photo of Mormon Founder Joseph Smith Jr. Found After Nearly 180 Years.” The only problem was that the first sentence of the story contradicted the headline: “A photo of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith Jr. was found after around 180 years and recently confirmed by one of his family descendants, but the church itself is less sure.” And there’s the rub. There is no consensus yet, no confirmation that this is an authentic image. Personally, this latest potential photograph of Joseph Smith seems like the closest match among several contenders that have surfaced over the years. The face does have features that strikingly resemble some found in portraits made of him during his lifetime. Still, I and many others have noted that the man in the mirror — daguerreotypes generally are mirror images — seems older than Joseph Smith’s age at his death, 38. The church’s statement cautioned that it has not yet been authenticated. Historians definitely do not yet agree that this is the long-anticipated finding of a rumored image. You can read the reactions of several of them in Deseret News writer Trent Toone’s smart second story on the daguerreotype, “Is the Joseph Smith picture real: Next steps and reaction from historians.” Yet several other news outlets signaled with their headlines that this indeed was the one: “At long last, a photo of Mormon founder Joseph Smith emerges.” “Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s photo discovered by descendant after nearly 180 years.” “Only Known Photo of Mormon Founder Joseph Smith Found in Locket.” “Joseph Smith’s photo discovered by descendant after nearly 180 years.” Some of those stories went on, like Newsweek, to introduce the appropriate questions about whether those claims have or even can be verified. Headline writing is both harder and more important than ever. Many people get their news from headlines they see flash across their phones in alerts or through their feeds on social media. With this story, that means many did not see that these stories carried questions about their very own headlines. In such an era, capturing interest with a headline is more vital than ever. Journalists first and foremost want readers to click on those headlines and read the details in their stories. And, of course, business models rely on people who actually consume news fully, not just in headline-sized bites. It is really difficult to balance accuracy and capturing interest. None of us get it right every time. But the latest big story about Latter-day Saint history certainly highlighted the real need to do it as well as possible. | 