How many clicks can a story deliver? That’s the coin of the realm of news delivered on the web.
The bait employed by CBS recently was a 13-slide photo series under the heading “Too much of this will kill you.” If enough of us click on all 13, then CBS can brag to advertisers about increased traffic.
They led the photo series with the recent story of doctors tracing a man’s kidney failure to his habit of drinking a gallon of iced team each day. That’s #1 in the series.
#2 (photo below) : CBS wrote: “licorice-clad models may look delicious, but beware: According to the Food and Drug Administration, people 40 or older who eat 2 ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks could end up in the hospital with an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia.”
#4: Water: “In 2007, a woman died after drinking too much water as part of a radio station giveaway contest.”
#6: Salt: “a 45-year-old woman with an eating disorder became comatose and died after consuming 3 or 4 tablespoons of salt.” AND: “In March 2015, New York mom Lacey Spears, left, was convicted of killing her 5-year-old son, Garnett, by putting salt into his hospital feeding tube.”
#13: Polar bear liver: “experts estimate that a mere 500 grams of polar bear liver has enough vitamin A to kill a human. Other animal livers, such as moose and seal, also contain a very high amount of vitamin A.”
How, about, instead, a 10-slide series capturing our 10 story review criteria. At last check, CBS, with rare exceptions, wasn’t doing very well on those. That might help more readers than advice about eating too much licorice or polar bear liver.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Following a shift in journalism’s business model, a diverse ecosystem of publications, many covering science, has sprung up online. This has made it more difficult to sort out what qualifies as journalism, what doesn’t, and whether the public even cares.
https://t.co/qO2a27FiSe
Researchers and journalists do the public a grave disservice when they spin health study results to make them appear safer or more effective than warranted, says @HealthNewsRevu founder @garyschwitzer https://t.co/QIKsRbP6Ed
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