I work in media for a living. Yes, I understand that sometimes there is a desire to sensationalize and even exaggerate in order to get the eyeballs glued to your tv station, and there are times where that is appropriate, news coverage is not one of those times IMO.

I recently saw this headline on CTV Winnipeg’s news broadcast, and later on their website.

Manitoba mom cut in half for groundbreaking surgery

Was the surgery groundbreaking? Yes. Was it invasive and dramatic? Yes. Was she cut in half? No.

When I hear the term “cut in half” I get a certain picture in my mind, something like this.

Maybe that’s not what other people imagine, fair enough.

The truth is that the lady in this story had half of her hip and one leg removed in a life saving procedure. I don’t equate half of a hip with being half of a person.

Sometimes exaggeration is the same as being dishonest, and in broadcast news I would like to see a higher standard of reporting that doesn’t need half-truths to sell their product.