Clickbait headlines are one of the reasons I left journalism (one of the minor ones, but symptom of a bigger problem). Everything these days, sales-wise, is connected with analytics regarding page views. It's no longer the reputation of the outlet or the reporter. When I got out of the journalism business five years ago or so, one of my last conversations with an editor went like this (I was a senior reporter covering a legal and political/legislation beat about an industry):
Me: "Hey, I noticed you changed my headline. Normally, you know me, I hate headline-writing, so as long as it makes sense, I don't care. But what you changed it to isn't really accurate as to what's in the article."
Editor: "Well, it's sorta in there, and we really needed to spruce it up to drive traffic."
Me: "I get it, but unlike everyone else in the newsroom, my sources are politicians. Your run of the mill company spokesperson might not care, but I guarantee you we'll be really pissing off my sources in the story if you publish with that headline."
Editor: "Sorry, Brian. Our headlines need to grab attention to get people clicking. When we re-purpose this into the print magazine, we'll go back to your original headline."
>>>>>>>>>I literally put my two weeks notice in about a week after that conversation. I had spent years cultivating sources on my beat with politicians nationwide, and that one story and headline ultimately burned two of them. I called them immediately, and they were pissed, but they understood it was out of my control, but had I ever needed them again, I'm sure they would not have agreed to speak with me.
Crazy stuff. But true story.
Topic: We need to talk about how the Clickbait Title Infestation is ruining the net. (Read 1960 times)