Headlines Matter

Rolling Stone ran an article with the headline “Joe Rogan Seems to have Disappeared from Spotify,” and I saw that on Facebook. So, the first thing I did was to go to Spotify and check and, lo and behold, Joe Rogan is still there and I started listening to the first podcast on the list.
Then, I went back and left a snarky “Nope, still there” comment. Well, some people on the thread were defending Rolling Stone, saying that if I’d bothered to read the article (which, they were right, I hadn’t) I would have realized that it was a technical glitch and everything was back up again.
Does that let Rolling Stone off the hook? Legally, I’m sure it does, that covers their ass. I mean “Seems to Have” is vague enough it can mean anything. But I, personally, am not letting Rolling Stone off the hook so easily. They knew what their headline sounded like, they know that lots of people (like me. Not proud of that, but it’s true. So much stuff out there to read and react to, so little time) don’t always read the articles, and they know that controversy sells.
Anyway, I started listening to the first podcast, which was some guy talking about Covid. I guess Rogan’s doing his penance, but to tell the truth, I am sick of all covid related conversation. I’m just bored with it. So, I changed to the next podcast, in which Rogan’s guest is a comedian I didn’t know, Joey Diaz. They are smoking pot, telling fart jokes, talking about favorite restaurants and comedy clubs, MMA fighting, Joey’s knee operation, whether it’s better to live in New Jersey or New York and, for some reason, the difference between chimpanzee births and human births.
That’s the Joe Rogan I like.