FBEL – Clickbait Headlines

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by

Allyson
in

I’m up at the fort from today until next Wednesday, so I’m writing up some canned words for you, to tide you all over ’til I’m home again. Of course if you want to come visit me at the Fort this weekend (it’s open Friday through Monday because of the holiday), I’d be pleased to meet ya! 😉

One of the things that has gotten to me of late is the use of clickbait titles on articles. While the Left is definitely using them for everything and anything, the Right also uses them. I find it not only annoying, but disingenuous. It leads you down a path and you really don’t know what you’re going to find at the end.

Headlines in my current Google news feed:

  • The over-the-counter medicine scientists say may raise your dementia risk.
  • Is there a least-bad alcohol?
  • Queen Camilla welcomes a new member to the Royal Family.

Yes, there are still some decent headlines. More and more, though, even the more standard headlines are misleading. Some are that way because they are Left leaning. As an example, the ones suggesting Vance was “waved away” by the new Pope. The actual “news” is in there, but you have to read to the bottom of the article to find it. There’s definitely no BLUF, as Chris calls it.

All of these headlines are about exactly the same thing. They each read differently. They contradict one another. Yet the information inside them is largely the same.

The all powerful media is using headlines to alter how people think. It’s a bit disturbing. It’s something to keep an eye on, by the by, especially in your own news feeds. Especially in your own news feeds.

        

Comments

3 responses to “FBEL – Clickbait Headlines”

  1. CBMTTek Avatar
    CBMTTek

    News media, like every other media, is a business. And, they way they bring money into the business is by getting eyeballs on screens. (Or paper, if you are still an old fart like I am and get an actual paper delivered)

    If clickbait headlines get eyeballs on screens, they will use them. It falls to the reader to decide if they want to click.

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    1. Archer Avatar
      Archer

      I just got finished saying, over at Miguel’s Substack: Journalists thrive on clicks; they need clicks and views to pay the bills. Ergo, the absolute worst thing you can do to a journalist in this era, is shrug and say “Meh.”

      It denies them attention and money.

      Reply
  2. Archer Avatar
    Archer

    Ooh, that CNN headline especially is hard to read. Too many pronouns in too few words.

    No, this is not an anti-LGBT thing, it’s an anti-poor-writing thing.

    “Putin just showed Trump how little he needs him”

    I’m sorry? Putin just showed Trump … what, now?

    How little Putin needs Trump? Or how little Trump needs Putin? Two very different sets of implications.

    Or how about, how little Putin needs Putin, or how little Trump needs Trump? More comedic, but still not outside the realm of possibility.

    Who are the “he” and “him” referring to? It’s not clear, so it could be any (or all) of these.

    But yes, the graphic shows four headlines referring to the same events but saying completely different things. And somehow, not one of them reads favorably to Trump.

    Also, from an earlier mention, V.P. JD Vance could have had a long and fruitful talk with the new Pope (and gifted him that Bears jersey), but if the Pope waved a normal “goodbye” gesture as Vance was exiting, could that not be described as “Vance ‘waved away’ by new Pope”?

    Accurately, if not truly? (Yes, that’s an Absence of Malice reference.)

    As the saying goes (and seems to be a popular topic in the blogosphere the last couple days), you don’t hate the media enough. You might think you do, but you don’t.

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