I think link-bait attention grabbing titles are part of the decline of journalism. Rather, I think they're a symptom of the disease.
The disease is the desire to profit from attention instead of value. The symptoms are inflammatory bullshit, poorly researched tripe, and the desire to create at much controversy as possible, instead of attempting to simply present facts and perhaps even intelligent analysis.
Yellow journalism isn't going anywhere, and publishers seem to be discovering that advertising (the primary way to get money when attention grabbing, instead of value-adding) doesn't cover their expenses. It makes it even harder to pay good journalists, especially when they're not necessarily writing those "DID SHIT JUST HIT THE FAN?" articles (tl;dr "No, not really").
In aggregate, the people willing to pay—actually pay—for news are the people who want news. Not bullshit.
Maybe there isn't hope for news in the long-term, but I see at least some in the possibility of an honest exchange of money for a service that I want (and we need)—journalism. I'd rather pay to see Cirque de Soleil if I'm in the mood for a show.
Comments
I think link-bait attention grabbing titles are part of the decline of journalism. Rather, I think they're a symptom of the disease.
The disease is the desire to profit from attention instead of value. The symptoms are inflammatory bullshit, poorly researched tripe, and the desire to create at much controversy as possible, instead of attempting to simply present facts and perhaps even intelligent analysis.
Yellow journalism isn't going anywhere, and publishers seem to be discovering that advertising (the primary way to get money when attention grabbing, instead of value-adding) doesn't cover their expenses. It makes it even harder to pay good journalists, especially when they're not necessarily writing those "DID SHIT JUST HIT THE FAN?" articles (tl;dr "No, not really").
In aggregate, the people willing to pay—actually pay—for news are the people who want news. Not bullshit.
Maybe there isn't hope for news in the long-term, but I see at least some in the possibility of an honest exchange of money for a service that I want (and we need)—journalism. I'd rather pay to see Cirque de Soleil if I'm in the mood for a show.