Journalism is a competitive field where everyone wants to make it to the top, be the first or only one to cover a story and be noticed by the masses.
There are so many useful tools such as social media that assist journalists in sharing their work with a variety of people, but I think these tools play a crucial role in the obsession with clicks and neglect of newsworthy content.
As a result, many journalists are starting to lose site on the whole purpose of their job, which is to produce and distribute accurate, informative and subjective content for the viewers.
Sensationalized reporting omits facts and valuable information by appealing to emotions and controversial topics.
The goal of sensationalism is to increase viewership so media outlets can raise their advertising prices and increase profit.
An example that proves many journalists are becoming more concerned with tactics to generate more traffic which causes the content to suffering significantly is the Washington Post article about a how a blogger got a million page views in two days form a “Know More” posts.
These posts generally consist of an attention-grabbing headline, an image, a chart, a map, and some explanatory text.
"This meeting between the Pope and a badly disfigured man will warm your heart. It's exactly what it sounds like: a montage of images of Pope Francis holding a man whose body was disfigured by neurofibromatosis. The text is 44 words long, and the post took less than 10 minutes to create," according to the article.
This is the epitome of sensational reporting because it doesn't have content and it doesn’t affect the lives of the masses, doesn't affect society, but instead is published to attract viewers and readers.
Sensationalized reporting is more concerned on what makes a good story instead of accuracy and social relevancy.
Speaking of accuracy, another example is The New York Times article about the infamous CNN coverage of the Boston Bombing Marathon.
This reporter was rushing to get a story with hopes to be the first with breaking news, which would generate more viewers.
He was so focused on getting more views and trying to be the first with information that he stated inaccurate information that a suspect was arrested on air and other news stations followed his lead.
I think journalists can balance clicks and newsworthiness in the face of market imperatives by thinking about the content, accuracy, attention-grabbing headlines, and interactive elements and more importantly by reporting.
Overall, digital media becomes weaker when journalists are more concerned about appealing to viewers' senses and not their intellect.
News should be informative and not entertaining.