On the 6th
of October, newscaster Jeroen Overbeek presented the media overview during the morning
news of the NOS. Surprisingly enough, he read a piece of what is called a clickbait
article which was written by the Dutch free newspaper Metro. The fragment (at 6:26
minutes) lasted only twenty seconds, but is a very important moment in the history
of the media and journalism according to Vice.
In their article, Vice chronological showed
how an insignificant fictional article made the NOS news.
The concept
of a clickbait article is simple. To get more readers (or page views online)
you just have to create an appealing article which contains something simple as
a list. Het Parool is known for using these lists frequently, like “9
hipster phenomena Amsterdam has had it with” or “Ten
things that would make travelling by subway more attractive”. In this case,
Metro came up with a clickbait article and published
a funny list of typical people you’d find in any office. Metro’s made-up list for
the attempt of getting the people’s attention (e.g. newspaper readers, page views
online) turned into “serious” news the next day. According to Vice, this case
is exemplary for what Baudrillard calls the hyperreality that marks our current society. For the
student who do not follow the Hypermodernity
course: Baudrillard was a French postmodern philosopher who believed that
reality is being replaced by virtual reality and has described this idea in his
book “The murder of the Real”. I found this connection interesting, because the
NOS covered news that was based on a fictional
yet appealing article of Metro and was without an actual occurrence. To me, it
seems that the media are able to create any made-up list and present it as real.
And if so, what can we say about the
credibility of newspapers as source? Anyway, Vice
concluded by stating that the facial expression of the newscaster (Jeroen
Overbeek) seemed to be expressing: “why the hell did I just told this to my audience?”
And if you
think that the source cycle was finished, you’re wrong! It would also be in
spirit of Baudrillard that another medium would join in and
cover Vice’s article, which is an article about a news item of the NOS about a
fictional article of Metro. And guess what: another medium
did join in! So my question to you is, what do you think of the credibility of
(traditional) newspapers as a source? And what do you think of Metro’s article?
Did it became a good publicity stunt or
is it just a good example of media following each other around? And what of the good name of the NOS? Have they ridiculed themselves?
- Florian ter Voert -
I think this is a very good example of a news source cycle, in which news content can be passed back and forth from media to media and where media act as sources for each other. However, considering the content of the article in question, I am surprised it made it to the "serious" news section, since it is a fictional piece created for entertainment reasons. In Greece, especially during August when most channels are understaffed, it happens that "serious" news programs, in order to fill their broadcasting time will "report" on similar clickbait articles or viral online pieces. Even though these really seem out of place, their presence in the news could be justified by the peculiarity of the season. However, one of the channels actually rebranded its afternoon news program a few years back in order to focus only on such soft news, and even became one of the first runners in ratings for a while. In addition, it's material was reproduced, even if it was just to be criticised, in other shows as well as online blogs, therefore strengthening a reproduction cycle of what could hardly be considered news. In my opinion, it was also responsible for a shift in the editorial process, downgrading the overall quality of reporting in order to promote virality and “easy” news. Conclusively I believe news programs lose a lot of their credibility when they choose to focus on entertainment and popular pieces, which are mainly a reproduction of material with no newsworthiness, or factuality, and therefore have no place in the news section.
ReplyDeleteI think it is remarkable that the NOS pays attention to a fictional news article during their news broadcast. The NOS is one of the largest journalistic organizations in the Netherlands and most people see them as a reliable news source. By paying attentions to fictional news articles such as the clickbait article, the NOS may damages her reliable and credible reputation. As a journalist it is your task to verify news that comes in the editorial office and to check the sources and facts of all this incoming news. Therefore in my opinion it is the task of the NOS journalist to separate fictionalnews from nonfictional news and to ensure that only correct and accurate news get broadcasted.
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