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posted by mrpg on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the journalism-will-disappear dept.

"Clickbait" is an oft-used epithet on Soylent. Is the practice killing journalism?

In an age overwhelmed with clickbait stories, where clicks mean money, is mainstream journalism losing its relevance? And are there any alternative sustainable business models, which allow professional journalists the freedom to produce meaningful and balanced journalism?

These were some of the questions put to a panel of TV and radio directors from across the globe at the UNESCO's Journalism Under Fire Colloquium, recently held in Paris.

[...]

Jimenez argued that the click business model was poisoning media.

"We are often looking for stupid or irrelevant stories for large amount of clicks to increase our income," he said. "Look right now at the top newspaper websites and you'll find many stories about cats, about the different ways of cooking some meal, or whether Lady Diana was taller than her husband."

Giles Trendle, Al Jazeera's acting managing director, agreed that the media was challenged by the proliferation of new platforms and mediums.

But, he said, engaging with new technologies should not necessarily mean losing one's soul.

"Hold firm to your editorial principles, which is a valid business model in itself. We have to champion what we do as quality, credible, balanced journalism that is factual and comprehensive, and cherish our editorial integrity," Trendle said.

The fundamentals of "quality journalism" will eventually prevail over the low-grade "yellow journalism", he added.

Or is publishing corporate PR press releases as news more responsible?


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:57AM (6 children)

    by anubi (2828) on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:57AM (#494297) Journal

    I have found out the hard way that to keep your ethics, you lose your shirt.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday April 15 2017, @04:02AM (5 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 15 2017, @04:02AM (#494298) Journal

    I have found out the hard way that to keep your ethics, you lose your shirt.

    But if you lose your ethics, you lose your soul! So you must chose: do you want something on your back, or something underfoot?

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday April 15 2017, @05:29AM (3 children)

      by anubi (2828) on Saturday April 15 2017, @05:29AM (#494311) Journal

      I'll keep my soul as long as I can.

      I don't really have to have any fancy cars, clothes, eateries, and junk from the mall stores.

      Come to think of it, its been several years since I've been to the mall. Nothing there I really want anymore. Just a bunch of businessmen selling the same stuff I find in garage sales. I used to go there for the food, but they kept hiking the price until I finally cut it out. Two dollars for a cup of soda? Good Gawd! I make that stuff at home for pennies with a cylinder of CO2, a soda bottle, and some tire fittings.

      It does not take all that much money to live on once one learns to stop spending for stuff they really don't need.

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by lentilla on Saturday April 15 2017, @08:57AM (2 children)

        by lentilla (1770) on Saturday April 15 2017, @08:57AM (#494345)

        "Two dollars for a cup of soda?" It's not the soda - it's the experience.

        It's all very well to sit in a backyard and make two cent sodas but sometimes friends need a "third space" to meet up and chat. Sometimes that involves an over-priced soft drink, over-priced coffee, or over-priced beer. Best to consider it the price we pay to make and keep those friends that later pop over for a glass of that cheap soda at your place. It's an indirect investment into being a successful social animal.

        I'll be the first to agree that our society has an unhealthy addiction to buying unnecessary things. There is; however; a middle ground to be found. Don't fixate too strongly on the price of an item without considering the total value received - in the case of this two buck soda, whilst you get the soda the real value is the excuse to spend time with friends.

        Don't be too disheartened, that two dollars (in part) helps employ the shop staff, the business-owner, the mall, the truck driver, the sugar farmer, and so on. It's not a complete waste.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:04PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:04PM (#494405)

          It's an indirect investment into being a successful social animal.

          The term "social animal" is positively nauseating. In any case, there are plenty of other ways to achieve that besides buying expensive junk. I guess no one was a "social animal" before movie theaters, malls, and convenience stores.

          Don't fixate too strongly on the price of an item without considering the total value received - in the case of this two buck soda, whilst you get the soda the real value is the excuse to spend time with friends.

          You don't need an excuse to do that, and there are plenty of cheaper excuses anyway.

          • (Score: 4, Insightful) by lentilla on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:46PM

            by lentilla (1770) on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:46PM (#494426)

            Of course people were social before the advent of theatres and shopping centres! I have it on good authority that in my prehistoric grandfather's day, something called the "Ooonga Boonga" dance was all the rage. Actually, Pops met my Grandma at one of those dances!

            Apparently, my grandfather had a cousin who pompously declared "I'm not going Ooonga Boonga dancing - tonight, or any other night! It's soooo stuuupid! I can work up a sweat much more easily than going to a dance - I can jump up and down on the spot, all without leaving my nice, comfy cave!

            The family history doesn't mention much about Grandfather's cousin after that - it seems he never had any children. Apparently, all those hot cave-women rather liked Ooonga Boonga dancing.

            Every age has its price of entry, and it isn't always exactly rational.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday April 15 2017, @04:30PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday April 15 2017, @04:30PM (#494469) Homepage Journal

      You're confusing ethics with morals.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org