Gone are the days when journalists were watchdogs, holding
those in power accountable for their deeds and calling for justice when scales
were imbalanced. Journalists are increasingly being asked to write stories
geared toward search engine optimization, or SEO, and trending topics on Google
and Twitter, the analysis found. Here is one example, from the Aug. 6, 2044
edition of the New York Times, once considered a bastion of journalism
integrity:
When Becky Hammon was named coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the sports world was at once shocked and excited. This week marks the 30th anniversary of Hammon’s hiring.Hammon, however, was close to Kate Upton at that time. Back then, rumors claimed that Upton was pregnant, because she had gained weight. It quickly became apparent that the rumor was stirred to create publicity around Upton’s favorite dessert, Drake’s Yodels, which had only been on the market for a year after the company was rejuvenated by a Greenwich, Conn., billionaire after Drake’s parent company, Hostess, had earlier shuttered its doors.Then came the case of Olivia Wilde, who also loved Yodels. In 2014, Wilde created a storm of controversy over a photograph of her breastfeeding her child. It was later confirmed that the photo was a fake, and was created by a fifth grader using advanced computer graphics techniques and Photoshop.The fifth grader happened to be a distant cousin of then-Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who himself became hot news when his son invited a slurry of disreputable souls to join the ‘boys for a party on board the team’s $17 million bus. The night climaxed with a midnight showing of a pirated version of the blockbuster movie, Divergent, starring a bunch of improbably good-looking young people who have to fight their way to freedom.Joining the bus party was London mayor Boris Johnson, who also made headlines in 2014 for announcing that he would run for prime minister of his beloved country. That news made Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu accidentally push a red button, which launched additional missiles into Gaza, further inflaming tensions there.Gaza decided to then release a biological weapon onto the Israeli people, using a nearly 100% lethal strain of the ebola virus. The ebola spread to many parts of the country, killing thousands before an effective quarantine was established. People said the attack was reminiscent of Hitler’s assault on Jewish people the century before, so the ebola strain was nicknamed “Hitler’s ebola.”
It’s clear that this story, like many others, was crafted
solely to generate the maximum number of web hits, which would please
advertisers whose first goal is to maximize the number of eyes that read their
ads. It’s rarely considered, however, that web hits in Japan for a business in
America might not be a benefit.
Other critics note that only elite businesses and
corporations benefit from the “hits from anywhere” philosophy, since they are
the only ones that can afford a strong international presence. The traditional
mom-and-pop stores that were once the foundation of a thriving economy have
become little more than a nuisance for the global conglomerate behemoths that dominate
the world economy.
Some say the small business owner should diversify and offer
products to sell online, and embrace this globalizing marketplace. The sad
reality is that the global market is over-saturated with so many products that
the lone salesman working on her own would find it nearly impossible to compete
with the bottom-floor prices advertised by competitors who make money through
volume.
During a previous era, these inequities would surely be
covered ad nauseum by media outlets that saw this as an economic injustice and
an affront the basic tenants of democracy. Not any more. The status quo is what
matters, and to challenge it would be to bite off the hand that feeds.
The only hope for journalism, according to this media
outlet’s analysis, is the non-profit model. Some websites have been able to
make it work through generous donations, often by angel donors. Sometimes,
money is raised through the audience itself, such as through the National
Public Radio model.
In this way, the news organization is accountable to its
audience, and not advertisers who only care about maximizing its sales reach.
In this way, there is an incentive to write about stories that actually matter,
and not ones that would simply benefit the advertiser. This model allows a news
organization to focus on quality over quantity, and to create news that is so
compelling that people would pay to continue to receive that organization’s
work.
It’s not perfect, and it certainly has its flaws. But it’s
better than the hyper-hit era that has dominated for-profit news since the
early 21st Century.
Becky Hammond, Kate Upton, Olivia Wilde, Boris Johnson and
Benjamin Netanyahu could not be reached for comment. Some are presumed dead,
although it’s unclear because news organizations no longer write about people
who were once famous but who have since fallen out of favor.
