Index: wp-includes/rss.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/rss.php	(revision 31281)
+++ wp-includes/rss.php	(working copy)
@@ -886,12 +886,24 @@
 		}
 
 		foreach ( (array) $rss->items as $item ) {
-			printf(
-				'<li><a href="%1$s" title="%2$s">%3$s</a></li>',
+			$item_output = sprintf(
+				'<li><a href="%1$s">%2$s</a></li>',
 				esc_url( $item['link'] ),
-				esc_attr( strip_tags( $item['description'] ) ),
 				esc_html( $item['title'] )
 			);
+
+			/**
+			 * Filter the output of individual RSS items.
+			 *
+			 * Provides an opportunity to customize the output of RSS items,
+			 * so the descriptions can be shown in a more accessible way.
+			 *
+			 * @since 4.2.0
+			 *
+			 * @param string $item_output Rendered output of an individual RSS item.
+			 * @param array  $item        Parsed RSS item.
+			 */
+			echo apply_filters( 'rss_item_output', $item_output, $item );
 		}
 
 		echo '</ul>';
@@ -921,13 +933,16 @@
 function get_rss ($url, $num_items = 5) { // Like get posts, but for RSS
 	$rss = fetch_rss($url);
 	if ( $rss ) {
-		$rss->items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, $num_items);
+		$rss->items = array_slice( $rss->items, 0, $num_items );
 		foreach ( (array) $rss->items as $item ) {
-			echo "<li>\n";
-			echo "<a href='$item[link]' title='$item[description]'>";
-			echo esc_html($item['title']);
-			echo "</a><br />\n";
-			echo "</li>\n";
+			$item_output = sprintf(
+				'<li><a href="%1$s">%2$s</a></li>',
+				esc_url( $item['link'] ),
+				esc_html( $item['title'] )
+			);
+
+			/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/rss.php */
+			echo apply_filters( 'rss_item_output', $item_output, $item );
 		}
 	} else {
 		return false;