I had the hope that US media would start reporting Trump’s ridiculous nonsense differently after the mid-terms, but it’s pretty clear they still can’t resist. No doubt, the more outrageous things he says, the more people click it.
Yes, so that is our fault – the readers who fuel their advertising budget. We are amplifying his message with our insatiable curiosity. He knows this. He’s playing the Twitter outrage game with the media, and we are all playing along.
So we have to stop. We are his megaphone. We must stop clicking on clickbait BS articles and take the temperature down by ignoring him. Nothing would piss him off more than being ignored, or at least being filtered.
So here’s some real clickbait headlines today, and how they should have been written:
Trump touts ‘Big Victory’ in midterms after GOP Senate wins despite losing House
– Here we have the same BS amplification, and the same sad allegedly tacked on at the end. The lede becomes ‘Big Victory’. It becomes Trump’s defiance. It should be more like:
Trump spreads further misinformation about the midterms results
It would doubtless get fewer clicks. It is also less information-dense, but the earlier information was not useful information. It’s meaningless lies. Are we gossipmongers or responsible adults? Are we out on the street with the mad drunk shouting alongside him – “Oh my gosh, you’re never going to believe what he just said!” Is that news? No. It may be fascinating, but it’s like sugar, no vitamins or minerals. We’re just getting sick eating it.
Another:
CNN journalist Jim Acosta banned from White House after Trump calls him ‘rude, terrible person’
– This one is just ridiculous. Imagine two kids in class, one a bully, and we’re all watching the bully bully the kid and repeating what the bully does. “Oh my gosh you’ll never believe the atomic wedgie that the bully gave to that little weak kid!”
It’s dumb. It’s car crash-watching sick. Let’s stop lollygagging and talk SUBSTANCE and REALITY! Here’s your headline:
Trump slanders and bans Jim Acosta from White House for asking a perfectly fair question.
Yes, it is slanted. Of course it is, because reality is slanted. This is what happened, so say that. Trump can’t succeed in the real reality, in the world where values have value, so he has to constantly be bending it. Let’s stop bending for him.
Boycott clickbait. Boycott news sites that indulge in clickbait. Let’s bend reality back with our eyes!