After looking at Technorati’s list of top 100 blogs, I was intrigued to find that The Huffington Post was #1. I decided to look for a post there, and I found one titled “Hitler Clothing Shop in India Will Be Renamed, Says Owner.” I picked it because the title was very eye-catching. I mean Hitler clothing shop (who would name something after such a nefarious character in European history?) Also, as an FYI, this shop is located in India – Ahmadabad to be precise. Now according to the post, the shop’s owner named it after a family member who was very tough and he was nicknamed “Hitler”. The really curious detail that stood out the most was that the shop owner said he had never heard about the real Hitler, or the atrocities he committed during the Third Reich. If this were true, then how could his family associate the word “Hitler” with tough and strict, without knowing any background info on this name? Or did it just pop into their mind? I highly doubt it. And if this were true, why include the Nazi symbol in the store’s name? It’s mind boggling to even think about it. Like the post mentioned, this was probably a marketing scheme to bring attention to this business. Unfortunately for them, it’s been bad publicity. But maybe that’s what they wanted…?
Although this post is interesting, not once did I see any sources cited. Come to think of it, I didn’t even see a reporter mentioned. So it makes you wonder where they pulled this news from. I mean, there are pictures of the store to sort of back up the story, but nothing is linked within the story. The story however, doesn’t seem to be swayed towards one way or another; it just states what’s going on without taking a side, which is a good thing.
As far as trusting this publication, I’m 50/50. In certain topics I do trust The Huffington Post, because they do tend to include sources. Perhaps they just chose this specific piece to fill up the vacant space they had.
Laura Guerrero 