(Writing Small Stories With a Big Impact.)

Those who spend considerable time online are familiar with clickbait yet fall for it consistently. (Guilty!) It’s a technique that works very well as it triggers emotional reactions and arouses our natural curiosity. Many of us click before thinking, then kick ourselves when we realize it’s junk. Cha-ching. The website just made money and too bad if it wasted your time. Sucker.

While we’ve come to expect such a gimmick from content marketers, unfortunately clickbait tactics are also commonly used in online journalism, especially digital first outlets.

So, what exactly is clickbait and why is it so prevalent?

“Clickbait” is a term used to describe online content—a headline, title, or thumbnail, that persuades or rather tricks readers into clicking through to the full article or video. These headlines are designed to evoke an emotional reaction or appeal to our curiosity. They often make sensational claims or controversial statements, using hyperbolic language and various gimmicks to lure readers in. Common clickbait phrases include, “You won’t believe…”, “You Need to See This…”, “What happened next will shock you…”, “The Real Reason why….”

You can find clickbait on websites, social media, and video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. It’s always accompanied by an eye-catching photo and a juicy headline.

The actual content is often mediocre and misleading, sometimes having very little to do with the title or headline. It’s used to increase advertising revenue through boosting engagement metrics—page views, likes, comments, clicks, and shares. But when promising headlines fail to deliver in this way it leaves the reader feeling used, irritated, and distrustful of any future content.

Clickbait has one clear goal, to make easy money. In this sense it’s not meant for true engagement, to share vital information, advance a promising writing career, or practice thoughtful, ethical journalism. Quantity in this scenario is more important than quality.

Why does clickbait exist?

The concept behind clickbait is nothing new and it mimics the yellow journalism tactics of the past—catchy, sensationalist tabloid headlines and television infomercials. However, the digital landscape is vastly different to legacy media and always evolving. There are no clear standards online when it comes to content creators. The only purpose of clickbait is to get people to click that link and all they get for their time is a lackluster article or video.

When you bought a newspaper, you got the package deal: all the other articles, sports section, classified ads, and obituaries, not to mention a crossword, comic strip, horoscopes, and coupons on Sunday. The articles were typically well researched and written, and most importantly, edited. And you could also use old newspapers to pack the china inherited from grandma when you moved.

But anything goes online. Never has it been so easy to ‘write’ and create content, with no editor or gatekeeper in sight. Regardless of talent and skill, anyone can simply slap something together and toss it out there. All they need is a gimmicky headline and they can make money. And as humans, we’ve never been inundated with so much information and choices in one space.

Online creators are jostling for attention and in the process dumping more piles of content onto the growing digital scrap heap. AI-generated articles and videos just compound the problems, creating more distrust and frustration.  

The practice reduces content creation to a hustle to make money, gain clicks and attention, rather than providing a public service to disseminate important information through articles of value and integrity.

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The Writer’s Digest Guide to Journalism is a practical, informative, and well-researched introduction to journalism and its best practices, with actionable advice, tips, techniques, explanations, and anecdotes straight from the field. In this digital guide, writers will learn how to write an effective news piece, skills need to be an effective journalist, outlets for publishing journalism, journalism associations, and so much more. Both inspirational and pragmatic, The Writer’s Digest Guide to Journalism is packed with valuable resources for aspiring journalists.

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Where does clickbait exist?

Clickbait is prevalent on most social media sites, like Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube. Even sites like Medium have been accused of degenerating into clickbait. Unfortunately, to compete with all the other online content, news outlets also use some of the same tactics. It can add to problems such as the spreading of disinformation and fake news stories.

It’s common on social media sites like Facebook for people to just share the article link without even reading the piece. The headline alone can create havoc in the comments section, facts and nuance be damned.

A 2024 study exploring the features of clickbait journalism and its effectiveness in driving online engagement, revealed that digital-native news outlets like Buzzfeed and Huffington Post were much more likely to use clickbait tactics than legacy outlets. The study, co-authored by UC Davis communication graduate student Salman Khawar, identifies 10 key features of clickbait journalism on social media. It concludes that clickbait does drive engagement in the form of likes and shares on social media.

“Prior research has shown that forms of sensationalism, like clickbait, and a perception of fake news and media mistrust are interconnected, and this has societal relevance,” said Khawar.

Could clickbait be used for good?

But since it’s proven to work very well in gaining attention, can the tactic also be used for good? If the content lives up to the expectations of the title, and the writer truly wants to share an important and relevant message and presents well-researched information, wider readership would be beneficial. The key is to build trust with your readers and viewers, so they’re more likely to keep clicking on posts. A good reputation can go a very long way, especially if clickbait runs its course.

Thankfully traditional media news sites are still bound by journalism ethics and must adhere to established standards. Despite criticisms of bias and lack of objectivity (which are often warranted) at least legacy media journalists are trained professionals, schooled in the principles of journalism.

If there’s no going back to print and broadcast business models, news outlets must somehow learn to survive and thrive online. To compete in the increasingly oversaturated digital space, where attention spans continuously shrink, and in a world where digital natives dominate, is the use of some clickbait a necessary ‘evil’ to get the public’s attention? Can it be used to get people in the door, so you can then surprise them with some real, homecooked, good old-fashioned journalism? Would this work? Is clickbait just yellow journalism on a larger scale?

Maybe the price we pay for online ‘free news’ is clickbait. The key is learning how to spot the worst culprits, ignore their junk, and not feed the beast, then maybe it will starve and fade away. That would make room for some quality, ethical journalism. We can only hope.

Click here for the 10 Features of Clickbait.

The post How Does Clickbait Affect Online Journalism? appeared first on Writer's Digest.

But today we’re in a completely different world and job titles such as “journalist” may need to be more flexible to accommodate all forms of journalism, including independently produced digital content. Wikipedia have even included “citizen journalists” and “knowledge journalists” in their list of who can be a journalist.

This is a question that can be answered from a professional and legal standpoint. Whether bloggers and others are protected by law has been widely debated and is a complicated legal issue which we won’t get into here. But we can quickly mention that in some states, bloggers have been recognized as journalists by the courts, and thereby offered the same constitutional protections under the “reporter’s shield law” as journalists at established news outlets. See our resources below for more information on the First Amendment and U.S. cases involving unaffiliated journalists.

That being said, let’s look in detail at the profession of journalism and what it takes to be a journalist.

(The Writer’s Voice: WD Recordings From the 1970s)

Freelance nonfiction writers are often generalists, juggling a multitude of different projects. Some may involve creating online content such as blogs and social media posts, while other work may be more traditionally “journalistic” in nature.

I often face a dilemma when updating my LinkedIn or Facebook page. What title can I use? As a freelancer creating content in various mediums, for several outlets, and covering a range of topics, can I just call myself a journalist and be done? I’ve had several full-time journalism roles, so am I then a former investigative journalist? A former newspaper reporter? A former current affairs producer? I’m a trained and experienced professional, but can I still use the title if no longer associated with an established news outlet?

This made me ponder the larger question of who exactly is a journalist in today’s digital, multimedia world? Many online content creators claim to be experts in various fields with very little experience to back up their claim, yet nobody seems to care and they’re still successful. So, can bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers who cover news, topical issues, and current affairs, similarly claim the title “journalist” with no professional credentials or affiliations? Or do we hold journalism to a higher standard?

Most of us would agree that it’s reasonable to expect someone who claims to be a “journalist” to have at least some associated skills and experience. This of course applies to any profession if we are to take it seriously, but with journalism it’s especially significant because of the nature and possible impact of the work.

But before we go any further it may be helpful to offer definitions of journalist and journalism and take a quick look at the state of the industry in 2023.

In a nutshell, journalism has been described as “storytelling with a purpose.” And its purpose, according to the American Press Institute is “to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.”

A journalist is responsible for gathering and organizing material and distributing the finished (and verified) pieces through various formats and mediums, which used to be limited to television, radio, and print and has now of course expanded to include online outlets. This requires some training, knowledge, and skills acquired from courses taken in college or online, experience working at a media organization, or through guidance from an industry professional.

Traditional media gatekeepers have been historically strict on who qualifies to report the news and what can be published. There’s a good reason for this of course, as the press—the fourth pillar of Democracy—is meant to be a public service charged with the responsibility of providing vital information that affects our lives. They were supposed to be the watchdogs of public affairs, the government, and institutions.

But since hundreds of news outlets, especially regional newspapers, TV, and radio stations, have closed their doors for good, there’s a huge gap in news coverage, especially at the local level. News has become more national and global and mainstream journalists seem increasingly out of touch with ordinary people. In the United States for example, around one in five reporters live in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.

The public has largely lost faith in traditional journalism and many people are switching off the TV news for this reason and turning instead to online bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers who cover (or often just discuss) the topics the mainstream news ignore. Some of them are remarkably good and have found ways to connect with a viewing or listening public desperate for information on issues they care about. Others are obviously fishing for clicks and purposefully share false information. But overall, could these new “citizen journalists” be fulfilling the role of the earliest journalists as defined by Kovach and Rosenstiel in their book The Elements of Journalism, who they say, “firmly established as a core principle their responsibility to examine unseen corners of society.”

So, regardless of training and experience, if an individual can create thoughtful, well-presented content on newsworthy events and issues, and manages to attract and engage an online audience, aren’t they providing a service just as important and valuable as any commercial or public news organization past and present? And obviously, if people are paying attention, they’re doing it well. Things become muddied when you consider traditional media is regulated by media law and press ethics, whereas the online space is still largely in its Wild West stage. And as we mentioned earlier, if you do tackle controversial issues as an independent or citizen journalist, you may not be protected under the law if subpoenaed.

In my opinion to be a journalist you must possess a minimum set of skills just like any other profession would demand. But as the saying goes, it’s not rocket science, and you can learn the trade through a combination of training and education (this could be online courses or community college). The basics can be learned in a matter of months and thereafter it’s trial and error.

When I started working at a weekly newspaper, I was a complete novice, it was baptism by fire. I was stationed in a rural ‘outpost’ and had to learn everything “on the job.” Most days I was scrambling to get by, but the articles got done, and the paper “put to bed” nevertheless. We’re all beginners at some point and there’s a learning curve for everything.

Since the demise of local newspapers, we need community journalists more than ever, if only to record and cover town and city council meetings, local governments, and events. Most people don’t have time to attend or keep up with these things and so this coverage would be a valuable resource. The mainstream media are selective in their coverage and many big stories would be left untold if it wasn’t for the reporting of online independents. And we’ve witnessed over the years the importance of citizen journalists with their boots on the ground, “on the scene” reporting and recording of events. The pen is mightier than the sword, a picture is worth a thousand words, and an I-Phone camera in the right spot, at the right time, can change the world.

We’re at a point when job titles should be more fluid. Journalism is rapidly evolving from legacy media dominance to the endless possibilities offered by the digital age. This is an exciting era for both established and aspiring journalists. If you’ve spent time learning basic journalism skills, such as research, writing, and interviewing, can present and deliver a story with clarity and integrity, and you manage to attract an online audience—then kudos to you. I’d say for sure that you’re not only a citizen journalist, but an actual, real, honest to goodness, 100 percent journalist. You’ve earned the title, are providing a valuable service, and hopefully, if it ever came down to it, the courts would agree with me.

And if you’re a journalist, then …

I’m off to update my LinkedIn profile.

Click to continue.

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