There has never been a time when it is more important for the media to be specific and avoid those scary generalization headlines.

The Denver Post seemed over the top for a while to me. At one point when eating in restaurants was ended, the headline said all restaurants are closed. Bad, real bad.

They’ve got better to inform people but not scare people.

But the latest phase and phrase is another example of the need to be careful.

The latest order to stay at home has the media using the cute, frightening “total lockdown” phrase,

Which is just not true.

If you look at the details of the order, you can walk you can drive you can pickup food you go to food stores and pharmacies and other things I’m leaving out. When you really need to!

My only actual quibble is that it seems to include book stores. I saw where Barnes and Noble was setup to come to your car and handover pre-ordered books. They ought to be allowed with some mental safety clause, but really, any business that makes the effort to have a carryout transfer with no dangerous contact should be considered.

Don’t get me wrong. Stay home is stay home and Mary and I doing it for days at a time except for morning walks avoiding any social contact.

But Americans cannot have a “total lockdown” and never leave the house period.

I dread the misleading headlines here in the Fort Collins area since the order was just announced. It would be great to see “mostly home” or “overwhelming home” replace the headline that sounds like you cannot go anywhere for anything.

Journalism needs precision and accuracy in these times more than ever.