Clicks vs. news worthinessIn the Internet world of the supersaturated content, where the success is measured by the number of clicks, many reporters experience pressure from publishers to follow the easy road and fill out their articles with popular content. Stories about adorable puppies and celebrity gossips flood the Internet alluring the readers to click omnipresent "read more" that publishers link with profit. 
Reporters that still try to figure their out role in this informational chaos face trouble finding their way and balancing between newsworthiness and clicks. However, journalist as watchdogs of the society, need to resist the temptation to create more in-depth and insightful stories. The only solution of this problem that I foresee is giving up on clicks and stick with insightful content. It’s not surprising that investigative reporting is on the rise. People want to hear about their elected officials or retirement policies. The recent stories about Edward Snowden and NSA beaten in clicks tweets from Kim Kardashian. It’s becoming a brand in the business world to invest in the investigative reporting. The in depth stories are still in demand and more businessmen invest in the newspapers with serious reporting. The solution lays in a way journalists write about an issue. They need to be not just deep and smart, their stories need to be not just important but also interesting. After dall, it’s getting easier to write a good investigate story than run a competition with puppies’ stories. I believe that reporters need to give up on the idea of competing for clicks by producing a popular content. It’s much more effective to focus on producing in depth reporting because that’s what real journalism is about. |