Romeltea Magazine

MEDIA Online atau situs berita amatir tidak berpihak kepada pembaca. Media-media ini membuat berita bukan untuk memberi informasi, tapi agar halaman situsnya dibuka atau dikunjungi.
   
Situs-situs berita amatiran ini biasanye membuat judul yang menyembunyikan informasi terpentingnya. Tujuannya agar link judul ini diklik sehingga halaman situsnya dikunjungi.

Misalnya, mereka membuat judul "Hasil Real Madrid vs Manchester City Semifinal Liga Champions 2016". Bahkan, di alinea pertama mereka menulis begini: "Hasil Liga Champions – Hasil Real Madrid vs Manchester City dalam babak semifinal Liga Champions di Santiago Bernabeu pada hari Kamis (5/5) ..."

Tidak disebutkan skor dan substansi hasl pertandingan. Inilah yang disebut Judul Umpan Klik (Clickbait Headline), yaitu judul-judul berita yang dimaksudkan agar diklik.
   
Contoh lainnya adalah judul "Manchester United Siap Tebus Klausul Pelepasan Bintang Ini". Alih-alih langsung menyebutkan nama bintang itu, media amatir ini menggunakan kata ganti "ini" --ciri khas judul umpan klik atau jebakan klik.

Jurnalisme Umpan Klik (Clickbait Journalism) menjadi "trend" di kalangan wartawan atau editor media online. Misi mereka membuat berita utamanya bukan untuk dibaca, tapi untuk diklik. Jadilah "click oriented" sebagai "ideologi" hampir semua media online saat ini.

Di Indonesia belum banyak yang membahas soal jurnalisme umpan klik ini. Beda dengan di luar negeri, seperti Amerika dan Inggris. Di Barat sudah banyak ulasan tentang umpan klik ini. Intinya, jurnalisme umpan klik bukan jurnalisme yang baik, bahkan "bukan karya jurnalistik".

Sebabnya, judul umpan klik lebih banyak menjebak atau menipu pembaca ketimbang. Acapkali isi berita berbeda dengan judulnya.

Jurnalisme umpan klik adalah versi baru jurnalisme kuning (yellow journalism) atau koran kuning (yellow paper).

Ulasan lengkap seputar jurnalisme umpan klik yang kini identik dengan jurnalistik online dapat disimak di Label Page Clickbait:

1. History of Clickbait
2. Clickbait - New Version of Yellow Journalism
3. Clickbait Headlime Manipulates Readers
4. Clickbait Headline is Bad for Your Site
5. Clickbait Journalism May Not the Answer
6. Clickbait - Changing Face of Online Journalism

Benang merah ulasan dalam link-link tentang jurnalisme umpan klik di atas adalah judul umpan klik atau jurnalisme clickbait bukan jurnalisme yang baik dan buruk bagi reputasi website.

Judul-judul umpan klik merupakan judul berita yang memanipulasi dan seringkali menipu pembaca. Orientasi media dengan judul umpan klik adalah trafik, bukan niat baik menyajikan informasi kepada publik. #BoikotMediaClickbait !!!
 

This week’s Facebook F8 developer conference gave us a glimpse into the future of our most popular informational feed, and it won’t be in the same scrolling browser format of today.

Big box content farms and online media companies were listening carefully because although F8 is a developer conference, it is basically the unveiling of the features that are likely to take over our lives’ in the coming years.

It is the future of the popular digital experience that is envisioned by the tech zeitgeist forecasters employed by Facebook.

Online media companies must also follow these rules closely in order to keep the evolving social network as a source of traffic. Play by the rules of Facebook, and you will continue to stay relevant.
The most recent era of the content farm was defined by a relatively simple-to-diagnose Facebook dependency.

If you are a content farm, the game was to get as many likes as possible for your page, post more stories, engage trending topics, and embed videos within the platform. It was simple, but now Facebook is creating new features that will make content creators less dependent upon them as a simple social platform, and more dependent upon them as an omnipotent platform for all humans.

Here are a few features that your favorite big box media company will have to implement to stay relevant according to the changing rules of Facebook.

Chatbots are coming for you.

As I documented last week, Chatbots are the buzzworthiest old technology that is being reintroduced as a new media disruption. Building your media company’s custom app was a waste of time.

Now, every media company will have a Chatbot on Facebook messenger, there to deliver a customized version of the news to you.

As Messenger apps transition into content reminder systems, Facebook and Facebook-owned WhatsApp will be there to bombard you with the latest non-news from big box content farms branded as news providers.

It will probably also have a personality that can deeply relate to Millennials. At launch, no sponsored content is allowed to be pushed to users, but we can count on that to change.

Bookmarking is hotter than ever.

The act of bookmarking is an ancient internet process. Pressing Command+D dates back to some of the earliest browsers. Eventually, the cloud came along and bookmarks saw a new life with the promise of social features.

It’s a practice that just hasn’t died because people like to read things later, and know they are stored safely at a place where they won’t forget. Facebook’s bookmarking system is a bountiful harvest of low-hanging engagement.

The currently buried “Save for Later” feature is used 250 million times per month. Imagine how much #engagement will occur now that Facebook will allow publishers to add a “Save” button to their own site’s content.

You can now share clean quotes on Facebook.

Our current social feeds can be overrun by outbound links with broken snippets, screenshots of news from people’s phones, and pasted quotes without a visual context of being from a valuable source.

Facebook will change this with a feature that is as obvious as the more prominent bookmarking strategy. Publishers will be able to add a quote-sharing plugin that gives the user the ability to quickly share a specific segment of an article in their newsfeed.

Look for the most outspoken person in your Facebook feed to be heavily using this feature to share some of the best angles from the deepest thinkpieces on the web. At least the display of information won’t look so chaotic.

Livestreaming and 3D cameras are an incremental step towards virtual reality.

During the drive to get more Facebook video engagement, the practice of freebooting wasn’t heavily regulated. Video was taken from an already-viral YouTube video and uploaded to a content farm’s Facebook page.

This digital rights violation would get millions of views from autoplaying features, boosting the algorithmic value of the publisher. The move to release an API for Facebook’s own livestreaming video feature is a move to generate more original content and clean up the perception of video.

Quality content providers will hopefully one day prefer the eyeballs of Facebook viewers above all other mediums. Livestreaming from any camera means more original content.

While online media companies might not have a plan for the future of virtual reality, we will probably see some media companies go all in on Facebook as their preferred video source capitalizing on the era of livestreaming video as a bridge to the future.

Artificial Intelligence is the goal of everything.

After Facebook-hosted articles were launched last year, the real question from me was, what separated the platform from the media company? At times, it felt like the snake was continuously eating its own tail.

Facebook’s ambition and retained knowledge of user behavior is what will separate it from being ‘only’ an aggregator of the world’s most popular news stories with accompanying comment threads below each post.

One of the overarching themes of F8 is the drive to create an artificially intelligent entity that accurately curates content for every individual consumer. Whether it is a chatbot delivering the news, or a snippet accurately summarizing the contents of a story, the artificial intelligence collected by Facebook is what really impacts publishers.

While I am typically a skeptic, perhaps Facebook will create a digital realm for every individual that accurately reflects their own interests. The resulting intelligence will either segment media companies from their readers, or help them move in front of eyeballs that might be genuinely interested in their content.

The result could be content companies with true specialization, as opposed to the ‘everything store’ model of big box content farms that has defined recent times.

Soon, only a few critical platforms will be necessary to keep on your preferred device. With the type of ambition laid out by Facebook at f8, it actually feels like Facebook is rewarding ‘the media’ with not only reach, but future services that no other company could do better.

When you have 1.59 billion active monthly users, the power of the platform is real because you have the necessary reach to define reality. It doesn’t feel like a social network any more—Facebook is an existence accompaniment tool. Your favorite content farm can’t neglect that kind of potential.

Source: Motherboard

The Future Of News Online. Masa Depan Koran Online, Situs Berita, Media Online -- Suram?

Layoffs and shakeups at online news sites, and what that means for the uncertain future of journalism.

How we get the news in the digital era is still a question up for grabs. Newspapers have suffered and shrunk.

The latest round of worry? That even digital natives in the news business– Mashable, Yahoo, Buzzfeed, Salon and more– are stumbling now.

Struggling to find a business model for the news as social media, Facebook, Google suck up eyeballs and ad dollars. This hour On Point: Now, online news cuts. And how exactly is journalism supposed to survive?

From Tom’s Reading List
Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic — “Online publishers have faced numerous financial challenges in recent years, including automated advertising and ad-blocking tools. But now, there is a realization that something more profound has happened: The transition from an Internet of websites to an Internet of mobile apps and social platforms, and Facebook in particular, is no longer coming — it is here. It is a systemic change that is leaving many publishers unsure of how they will make money.” (New York Times)

Newsonomics: With new roadblocks for digital news sites, what happens next? — “Is what we’re seeing a real cratering? No. BuzzFeed investor Ken Lerer is correct on this; all the whispered schadenfreude reflects BuzzFeed envy as much as anything. (BuzzFeed has disputed the FT’s 2016 reporting, while its 2015 miss has been confirmed by Recode’s Peter Kafka.) It is, though, a significant recalibration. If people expect these companies to have figured out how to replace the legacy news companies and navigate this new world, they’ve got to think again. There is no secret sauce in news publishing.” (Nieman)

Mashable And The Challenge Of Venture-Funded Media —”Mashable’s raise-layoff-pivot chassé may also prove a harbinger of what’s to come for venture-backed publishers. As Facebook-driven hockey-stick growth flattens, many of these companies will face the same tough choices as Mashable. The high-level story, as told in the prior three paragraphs, will be well-understood through the coming pivots, layoffs, raises and acquisitions. What is less well understood is the internal dynamics of the venture firms in the background, and how these dynamics can be real drivers of strategy.” (Observer)

Source: Onpoint WBUR

Media Online (Situs Berita) Mulai Ditinggalkan Pembaca.  

Mashable memberhentikan 30 wartawannya. The Financial Times menghadapi kesulitan keuangan. Salon dan Buzzfeed juga mulai merumahkan karyawan selain memangkas anggaran.

APA SEBAB?

The transition from an Internet of websites to an Internet of Mobile Apps and Social Platforms plus AdBlock Apps.

Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic 

Advertisers adjusted spending accordingly. In the first quarter of 2016, 85 cents of every new dollar spent in online advertising will go to Google or Facebook, said Brian Nowak, a Morgan Stanley analyst.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringad-revenue-and-traffic.html

Template blogger Simple SEO Friendly Terbaik. Top 20 Best Simple SEO Friendly & Responsive Blogger Templates.

All templates  Features: Responsive Design, Valid HTML5, Valid CSS3, SEO Friendly, Threaded Comment Custom, Responsive Menu Navigation, Dynamic Heading Tags, Fast Loading, Social Share, Related Post, Auto Readmore with Thumbnail, and more...

Sang SEO - Template Blog Simple Paling Seo Friendly

Minima Colored 3

Template Features: SEO Optimized & User Friendly. 100% Responsive Design. HomePage Recent Post by Tags. Drop-down Menu (Fixed when scroll down). Smart Page Navigation.

Smart Resize Thumbnail. Related Post. New Sticker. HomePage SlideShow. Custom Widgets (Facebook Likebox, Social Links, Recent Comment, Random Posts). Custom Error 404 Page. New Blogger Comment Style with Emoticons. Professional Admin Layout. Well Documentation.

Pengertian dan Ruang Lingkup Strategi Komunikasi (Communication Strategy)

Pengertian Strategi Komunikasi 

Strategi komunikasi pada hakikatnya adalah perencanaan (planning) dan manajemen (management) untuk mencapai satu tujuan. Strategi komunikasi merupakan paduan dari perencanaan komunikasi dan manajemen komunikasi untuk mencapai suatu tujuan (Effendy,2003:301).

Strategi komunikasi harus didukung oleh teori karena teori merupakan pengetahuan berdasarkan pengalaman (empiris) yang sudah diuji kebenarannya.

Harold D. Lasswell menyatakan, cara yang terbaik untuk menerangkan kegiatan komunikasi ialah menjawab pertanyaan ”Who Says What Which Channel To Whom With What Effect?”

Komponen Strategi Komunikasi

Untuk mantapnya strategi komunikasi, maka segala sesuatunya harus dipertautkan dengan komponen-komponen yang merupakan jawaban terhadap pertanyaan dalam rumus Lasswell tersebut;

1. Who? (Siapakah komunikatornya)
2. Says what? (pesan apa yang dinyatakannya)
3. In which channel? (media apa yang digunakannya)
4. To whom? (siapa komunikannya)
5. With what effect? (efek apa yang diharapkan)

Ruang Lingkup Strategi Komunikasi

Quinn (1992)  dalam Ruslan (2002) menyatakan, agar suatu strategi dapat efektif dilaksanakan dalam sebauh program, maka ia harus mencakup beberapa hal:

1. Objektif yang jelas dan menentukan semua ikhtiar diarahkan untuk mencapai pemahaman yang jelas, menentukan dan bisa mencapai keseluruhan tujuan. Tujuan tersebut tidak perlu dibuat secara tertulis namun yang penting bisa dipahami dan menentukan.


2. Memelihara inisiatif.strategi inisiatif menjaga kebebasan bertindak dan memperkaya omitmen. Strategi mesti menentukan langkah dan menetapkan tindakan terhadap peristiwa, bukannya bereaksi terhadap satu peristiwa.


3. Konsentrasi, dengan memusatkan kekuatan yang besar untuk waktu dan tempat yang menentukan.


4. Fleksibilitas.strategi hendaknya diniatkan untuk dilengkapi penyanggad an dimensi untuk fleksibilitas dan maneuver.


5. Kepemimpinan yang memilki komitmen dan terkoordinasi. Strategi hendaknya memberikan kepemimpinan yang memiliki komitmen dan tanggung jawab terhadap pencapaian tujuan pokok.


6. Kejujuran. Strategi itu hendaknya dipersiapkan untuk memanfaatkan kerahasiaan dan kecerdasan untuk menyerang lawan pada saat yang tidak terduga.


7. Keamanan. Strategi itu mesti mengamankan seluruh organisasi dan semua operasi penting organisasi.

R Wayne Pace, Brent D. Peterson, danM. Dallas Burnett dalam Techniques for Effective Communication menyatakan, tujuan sentral komunikasi terdiri atas tiga tujuan utama, yaitu:

1. To secure understanding(komunikan mengerti akan pesan yang diterimanya)
2. To establish acceptance(penerimaan pesan oleh komunikan itu kemudian dibina)
3. To motivate action(kegiatan dimotivasikan)

Faktor Pendukung Strategi Komunikasi

Menyusun strategi komunikasi harus memperhitungkan faktor-faktor pendukung dan penghambat. Berikut ini sebagian komponen komunikasi dan faktor pendukung serta penghambat pada setiap komponen tersebut (Effendy,2003:35).

1. Mengenali sasaran komunikasi
2. Faktor situasi dan kondisi
3. Pemilihan media komunikasi
4. Pengkajian tujuan pesan komunikasi
5. Peranan komunikator dalam komunikasi
6. Daya tarik sumber
7. Kredibilitas sumber

Empat faktor penting yang harus diperhatikan menyusun strategi komunikasi:

1. Mengenal khalayak. Khalayak itu aktif sehingga antara komunikator dengan komunikan bukan saja tejadi saling hubungan, tetapi juga saling mempengaruhi.


2. Menyusun pesan, yaitu menentukan tema dan materi. Syarat utama dalam mempengaruhi kalayak dari pesan tersebut ialah mampu membangkitkan perhatian. Awal efektivitas dalam komunikasi ialah bangkitnya perhatian dari khalayak terhadap pesan-pesan yang disampaikan.


3. Menetapkan metode, dalam hal ini metode penyampaian, yang dapat dilihat dari dua aspek: menurut cara pelaksanaannya dan menurut bentuk isinya. Menurut cara pelaksanaannya, dapat diwujudkan dalam dua bentuk yaitu, metode redundancy (repetition) dan canalizing. Sedangkan yang kedua menurut bentuk isinya dikenal metode-metode : informatif, persuasif , edukatif , kursif. Metode redundancy adalah cara mempengaruhi khalayak dengan jalan mengulang-ulang pesan pada khalayak. Metode canalizing yaitu mempengaruhi khalayak untuk menerima pesan yang disampaikan, kemudian secara perlahan-lahan merubah sikap dan pola pemikirannya ke arah yang kita kehendaki. Metode informatif, lebih ditujukan pada penggunaan akal pikiran khalayak, dan dilakukan dalam bentuk pernyataan berupa: keterangan, penerangan, berita, dan sebagai nya. Metode persuasif yaitu mempengaruhi khalayak dengan jalan membujuk. Dalam hal ini khalayak digugah baik piki ran maupun perasaannya. Metode edukatif, memberikan sesuatu idea kepada khalayak berdasarkan fakta-fakta, pendapat dan pengalaman yang dapat dipertanggungjawabkan dari segi kebenarannya dengan disengaja, teratur dan berencana, dengan tujuan mengubah tingkah laku manusia ke arah yang di inginkan. Metode kursif, mempengaruhi khalayak dengan jalan memaksa tanpa memberi kesempatan berpikir untuk meneri ma gagasan-gagasan yang dilontarkan, dimanifestasikan dalam bentuk peraturan-peraturan, intimidasi dan biasanya di belakangnya berdiri kekuatan tangguh.


4. Pemilihan media komunikasi. Kita dapat memilih salah satu atau gabungan dari beberapa media, bergantung pada tujuan yang akan dicapai, pesan yang disampaikan dan teknik yang dipergunakan, karena masing-masing medium mempunyai kelemahan-kelemahannya tersendiri sebagai alat.

Secara umum strategi komunikasi dilakukan melalui 10 tahapan:

1. Analisis Program/Masalah
2. Analisis Situasi
3. Analisis Khalayak
4. Tujuan Komunikasi
5. Strategi Komunikasi
6. Perencanaan Kegiatan Pengembangan Media
7. Produksi Dan Ujicoba Media
8. Penggunaan Media
9. Media Monitoring dan Sistem Pengelolaan Informasi
10. Evaluasi dan Analisis Masalah.

Pelatihan Manajemen Media Online untuk Humas (Cyber PR).

Memiliki media online (website/blog) saat ini merupakan keniscayaan, jika tidak ingin “ketinggalan zaman” dan melewatkan jutaan peluang di dunia internet yang pengunanya kian hari makin massif dan aktif.

Selain berfungsi sebagai “etalase” dan pembentuk citra positif, media online juga berfungsi sebagai sarana promosi sekaligus komunikasi intensif dengan publik.

Hampir semua perusahaan/instansi memiliki website. Namun, kendalanya adalah bagaimana mengelola media online itu dengan baik dan “benar”, baik dari segi tampilan (desain) maupun dari sisi isi (content).

Selain itu, media sosial (social media) seperti facebook, twitter, dan youtube juga berperan penting dalam manajemen perusahaan/instansi, agar tetap eksis di tengah arus besar kemajuan teknologi informasi.

Bahkan, tidak jarang, sebuah usaha besar dirintis dari media sosial dan blog (online marketing).

Pelatihan Manajemen Media Online untuk Praktisi Humas ini akan memberikan bekal wawasan dan keterampilan bagaimana membuat dan mengelola media online & social media secara efektif --melaksanakan PR Online, e-PR, Internet PR, Humas Online.

RUANG LINGKUP MATERI:
1. Teknik Blogging
- Teknik Pembuatan Blog
- Jenis-Jenis Blog
- Domain & Hosting: Gratis dan Berbayar
- Server & Server Colocation

2. Desain Website
- Dasar-Dasar Desain Web
- Pemrograman: CSS, HTML, PHP
- Kolom, Warna, dan Flash, dll.

3. Content Management
- Rubrikasi/Kategorisasi
- Menu Navigation
- Posting & Updating
- Linkage & NetworkedBlog
- Pemanfaatan Social Media

4. Teknik Menulis di Media Online
- Karakter Media
- Karakter Naskah
- SEO Web Technique

JADWAL PELATIHAN:
Hari/Tanggal : 2 hari
Jam : 09.00-16.00
Biaya :
Tempat :

KONTAK EMAIL:
baticmedia@yahoo.com

Every blogger, newspaper editor or publisher wants to attract visitors to their website, but at what cost? Whilst most publications tend to only provide relevant content through their sites, others have turned to an unsavoury tactic known as ‘click baiting’ in order to draw in more readers.

Clickbait refers to the practice of presenting catchy headlines to readers which don’t actually represent the content which they are linked to. Clickbait headlines encourage people to click by promising a big payoff, but don’t actually deliver on expectations.

Why Use Click Bait?

The main reason that newspaper websites use clickbait tactics is to draw in unsuspecting web users for the purpose of advertising. They think that once a user is on their site after clicking on the bait, it’s an opportunity to bombard them with ads in the hope that those will also be clicked on. Clickbait is also often used in order to increase traffic numbers to a certain level, making it seem like the site has more organic visits than it actually does. In addition, the hope is that users will continue to read other stories and click on further ads once they are on the site. Many newspaper sites provide additional clickbait on a clickbait story in the hope that the user will cycle through.

How Does This Affect Online Users?

Whilst the use of clickbait may serve to bring in more visitors, the end result is that your website’s credibility is damaged. Once you have disappointed a user, it’s very likely that they will simply leave the site without clicking on anything else – and what’s worse, they’ll probably avoid your site altogether in the future. Pair this with negative word-of-mouth advertising, and you have a recipe for disaster. The bottom line is that fooling users does not amount to new subscribers – in fact, quite the opposite.

What’s Being Done About It?

In addition to the newspaper industry keeping itself in check, a number of social media sites have taken steps in order to reduce the amount of clickbait stories displayed. Perhaps the most notable measure taken is that Facebook has recently changed its algorithm to measure how long readers will stay on a link that they have clicked on. Links which do not receive long visits are then downgraded, and shown less than links which receive longer visits and are deemed to be more popular with users and therefore more credible. The new algorithm also additionally takes into consideration the amount of likes and shares that a particular link receives when determining its importance.

The Alternative

Although using clickbait may seem to be a quick solution for bringing in more traffic, the fact is that the alternatives have a far better lasting result. By providing readers with content that delivers and provides engagement and value, you are much more likely to gain new subscribers as well as protect the reputation of your newspaper or site. This approach may take longer to gain the desired result than using clickbait, however it pays off greater in the long run.
Leave your thoughts on clickbait in the comments!

Source: http://www.clickintelligence.co.uk/why-clickbait-journalism-may-not-be-the-answer/
Image courtesy of ogilvydo.com

Clickbait: The changing face of online journalism.

By Ben Frampton | BBC News

It is a golden rule of journalism, taught to any news reporter at the beginning of their career - your introduction should grab the reader straight away.
If you cannot hold someone's attention for a sentence, you have no hope of getting them to read the rest of your article.

The same is true for headlines; stark, witty or intriguing ones can draw the reader's eye to a story.
Headline writing has long been considered a skill but, in the digital age, a new word has become synonymous with online journalism - clickbait.

Put simply, it is a headline which tempts the reader to click on the link to the story. But the name is used pejoratively to describe headlines which are sensationalised, turn out to be adverts or are simply misleading.
Publishers increasingly use it for simple economics; the more clicks you get, the more people on your site, the more you can charge for advertising.

A report by the Columbia Journalism Review highlighted the case of online magazine Slant, which pays writers $100 per month, plus $5 for every 500 clicks on their stories.

Slant is far from unique in this respect and this business model is becoming increasingly common, but opponents argue it means journalists will dumb down stories in order to get more clicks in order to earn a living.

Last week, the NUJ expressed concerns after Trinity Mirror, one of the UK's biggest newspaper publishers, announced plans to introduce individual website "click targets" for journalists.

The group's editorial director, Neil Benson, said the aim was to focus on providing content that is "relevant to our audiences".

Damian Radcliffe, honorary research fellow at Cardiff University's School of Journalism said: "It's part of the world in which we now operate - there's a lot to be said for journalists to be able to write better or snappier headlines."

There are fears it could curtail a cornerstone of journalism - holding those in office and power to account - in favour of appealing to the lowest common denominator.

But Mr Radcliffe said this may not be the case.

"I think those stories will still be covered, but they may well cover them in new and different ways; not dumbing-down but being creative in how you tell these stories through infographics, explainers and video.
"I think it's a recognition the audience consumes content in different ways."

'Dangerous path'

Peter Preston, former editor of the Guardian and a columnist for the Observer, said: "You certainly want your journalists to be thinking how they get the maximum level of interest... it seems on one hand it's pretty stupid to not make sure your journalists are doing their best to serve their readers.

"It's a means of getting journalists to concentrate on [ensuring] whatever story they are doing is presented in the best way."

But Ken Smith, chairman of the Welsh executive council of the National Union of Journalists, has concerns.
"Without a doubt, there is a dumbing down in terms of content going on websites which does not bode well," he said.

"Inevitably, if the criterion for including the story on the website is determined by the number of clicks, then we're going down a very dangerous path.

"There's going to be an emphasis on the trivial, rather than stories which require more considered reading.

"If you're setting individual targets about how many clicks they should be getting, they will be more inclined to do this instant gratification journalism rather than look into issues of concern about how the local council is performing because they take time to research."

A by-product of this style of journalism - the frustration of readers clicking on a story which promised more than it delivered - has led to new ways to offer content.

Netherlands-based Blendle allows people to read stories from a host of newspapers and magazines, and offers a pay per story set up with a money back guarantee if readers feel short-changed or dissatisfied.

Sensationalising news is hardly new and, in the days of print journalism, there was no guarantee the stories scrutinising the elected and the powerful were being read any more than the titillating content.

"In days of yore, you had no idea if people were reading stories about parliament in the Sunday Times or from the local council or just skipping to the sport section, so I don't think it's a new question," said Mr Radcliffe.

"We've always had sensationalist content, I think it's easy to look back with rose-tinted spectacles. You can say we're living in the golden era of journalism in the access to the breadth and quality of journalism that we have now."

Mr Preston said the changing needs of online audiences means a healthy balance needs to be struck.
"There is a potential problem where a lot of less tractable material happening in your local parliament or more complex foreign affairs gets put to one side because reporters get concerned about pay and standards begin to fall," he said.

"These websites and newspapers are beginning to realise you need a bit of both to what you're putting out as opposed to just lists and fluff - there is a bit of a swing back."

Headlines are as old as journalism itself, so are those teasing lines on social media just a progression of an age-old skill?

"Headline writing is an art, to write something that draws somebody in. Clickbait seems to be a catch-all for that skill and has very negative connotations, but the reality is more nuanced and the ability to write something enticing on Twitter to pique someone's interest is a real art," said Mr Radcliffe.

"Some people see it [pay per click] as a slightly dirty business model. I don't share that view, it's just a digital reality. If that's how you get your foot in the door and develop a good story sense and how to write a good headline, I don't see anything wrong with that."

Negative consequences

But what works for one website will not necessarily work for another, so every organisation has to decide what balance works best.

"There's no doubt there's a swell of stories and the way they attract attention. There's a danger of shouting and tarting things up, almost across the board," said Mr Preston.

"[Clickbait stories] have somewhat diminished the value of news - they sell on stars in and out of bed... and that's one way of getting the clicks.

"People are beginning to say 'we need more stories, we need actual things happening' because that brings back readers and encourages engagement."

One perennial frustration for the online reader is the "look at me" headline, which can have negative consequences.

"If you look at news websites, increasingly stories are being headlined 'You will not believe what you're going to read'. It's all very well to do that occasionally when you've got something to interest the reader, but if you overplay your hand, people will find out what you're offering will not match your headline," said Mr Smith.

"This is a dangerous route to follow and sooner or later they're going to wake up to what you're offering them with these teasing headlines is not matched by the writing."

Where does this leave publicly-funded news outlets like the BBC, which does not have the same commercial pressures as the private sector and has a different editorial policy?

Mr Smith said: "It places a bigger burden on the BBC if you've got private sector giving up on public interest journalism."

He believes the BBC's plan to have a pool of reporters to share work with local newspapers "will take resources away from the BBC and will encourage the newspaper groups that have been making cuts to cut further, because they may well say if they can get the BBC to pay for the serious public interest material, we will get rid of existing employees and rely on what the BBC does".

Mr Radcliffe added: "Is the BBC still about universality or about market failure in covering and reporting on stories that are not being covered elsewhere? It's a big question and one that will continue to be discussed until the next charter renewal."

It is not just the content that journalists need to think about, but the medium.

Social media now works as a separate entity for news outlets - rather than a simple headline, picture and link to a story, organisations have to repackage and change how they offer news depending on the platform.
"What works on Twitter might not work on Facebook - you can potentially tell a story in 140 characters with a supporting image," said Mr Radcliffe.

Also, more thought is needed about which stories are posted on social media as that is not going to be the same audience as a newspaper's website.

"There's no doubt digital can do many sorts of stories absolutely brilliantly," said Mr Preston.

But Mr Smith feels style is being prioritised over substance: "The danger is we've become obsessed with the medium and forgotten about the content; good journalism is good in whatever medium it is available.

"You can come up with the most technically refined way of delivering material, but if that material is of no value there's no point to it."

'Massively daunting'

Clickbait in the many forms it takes - from the intriguing to the misleading - seems to be here to stay, so journalists and news organisations have a decision to make on what they want to offer people and where their priorities lie.

"It's a question of balance and if things are going the way they have been, newspapers will cease to have the character that they have had for centuries and they will simply become a vehicle of the light entertainment industry, which is quite tawdry, said Mr Smith.

But Mr Radcliffe sees causes for optimism: "I think it is just a different way of working, a reflection of the fact audiences consume content in different ways.

"The future is incredibly exciting and massively daunting, there are opportunities to do things in new and interesting and exciting ways."

But Mr Preston has words of caution for newspaper groups hunting for clicks.

"Trinity Mirror has reasonable reasons for doing this [pay per click]. Regional and local papers are fighting to make an impact online, having started down that road a little bit too late.
"
But if you open a Trinity Mirror paper in two or three years time after this has started and can't find anything but fluff and sensationalism then that's newspapers - online or offline - beginning to cut their own throats." (Sumber).*