Do the headlines match the story?

Above are headlines regarding the coroner’s report on journalist Michael Hastings, who was killed in a car accident in June. They include ones like:

“Autopsy finds drugs in journalist who died in Los Angeles crash”

-and-

“Coroner, family link Michael Hastings to drug use at time of death”

I read those and thought, “Oh, Hastings was on drugs at the time of the crash?”

But if you read the Reuters article that goes along with that first headline, it says, “The drugs in Michael Hastings’ system were of an amount unlikely to have contributed to the crash in which the Mercedes-Benz he was driving struck a tree and burst into flames, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office report.”

Or, if you open the LA Times article that goes with that second headline, the details say, “Coroner’s officials said Hastings had traces of amphetamine in his system, consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death, as well as marijuana. Neither were considered a factor in the crash, according to toxicology reports.”

In other words, the coroner is saying the drugs in Hastings’ system likely weren’t a factor in the accident that killed him. The headlines don’t really give that impression though. They make it very easy for people to assume drugs were a factor.

What would have been wrong with a headline like: “Traces of drugs likely not a factor in journalist Hastings’ death”? Readers can get those details in the story, but not everyone will actually click, especially when it’s so easy to simply scan headlines online.