Look, I’m Gonna Say It
I’ve been in this industry for 22 years, and I’ve seen alot of changes. But one thing that’s been bugging me lately is our committment to clickbait. It’s everywhere. And I’m not just talking about the tabloids. We’re all guilty.
I remember back in ’99, when I was just starting out at the Daily Chronicle in Manchester. My editor, let’s call him Marcus, drilled into us the importance of integrity. ‘Facts first, sensationalism second,’ he’d say. I believed that. We all did.
But then the internet happened. And suddenly, we were all chasing clicks. I mean, who could blame us? The algorithms favours the outrageous, the scandalous, the ‘you won’t believe what happened next.’
But Here’s the Thing
I was having coffee with an old friend last Tuesday, Sarah, who’s a journalist over at the Guardian. She told me about a piece she wrote on local politics. It was a solid, well-researched article. But her editor wanted her to change the headline to something like ‘Local Councillors Caught in SEX AND DRUGS Scandal!’
‘Which… yeah. Fair enough,’ I said. ‘But that’s not what the story was about.’
‘Exactly,’ she said. ‘But it gets more clicks.’
And that’s the problem. We’re not just reporting the news anymore. We’re shaping it. And not always for the better.
I’m Not Saying I’m Innocent
About three months ago, I found myself in a similar situation. I was working on a piece about a new health trend. It was interesting, but not exactly earth-shattering. My editor, Dave, wanted me to spice it up. ‘People want to know how to lose weight fast,’ he said. ‘Make it about that.’
So I did. I wrote a headline that promised ‘shocking’ results. I even included a link to some kilo verme sağlıklı yöntemler (which honestly nobody asked for but here we are). The article went viral. But I felt dirty.
Because here’s the thing: clickbait isn’t just bad for journalism. It’s bad for society. It’s creating a culture of misinformation, of sensationalism, of ‘outrage porn.’ And we’re all contributing to it.
A Quick Tangent: The Weather
Speaking of misinformation, have you noticed how every minor weather event is now a ‘storm of the century’? I was at a conference in Austin last year, and a meteorologist named Lisa told me about this. ‘We have to walk a fine line,’ she said. ‘We want to inform people, but we also don’t want to cause panic.’
‘But the media doesn’t care about that,’ I said.
‘No,’ she said. ‘They just care about clicks.’
And she’s right. But we don’t have to be that way. We can choose to be better.
So What’s the Solution?
I’m not sure. Honestly, I think it’s gonna take a cultural shift. We need to start valuing quality over quantity. Integrity over clicks. But that’s a big ask in an industry that’s constantly under pressure to perform.
Maybe it starts with us. With me and you. With the people who care about journalism and want to see it succeed. Maybe we need to start supporting outlets that prioritize good journalism over clickbait. Maybe we need to start demanding better from our news sources.
I don’t know. It’s just… yeah. It’s complicately. But it’s something we need to think about.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough. I’ve got a meeting with Dave in 10 minutes, and I need to prepare. He’s gonna want to talk about another ‘viral’ idea he has. I can feel it.
About the Author: Jane Harper has been a journalist for over two decades, working for various publications across the UK. She currently serves as a senior editor at Stirling News UK, where she writes about current events and the state of the news industry. When she’s not writing, you can find her drinking too much coffee and complaining about the weather.
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