Writing a catchy headline has always been considered a skill, it should attract as many readers as possible. It is considered as a golden rule in journalism. However, in this age of digital progress, clickbait has acquired the synonym of online journalism. The word is used pejoratively to describe headlines that are often misleading. It refers to sensationalised news that tempts to click on the news. Many readers are speculating that these teasing headlines had been in practice for a long time and just a modification of what used to happen in old ages.
Ursula Smartt, a U.K. based expert in media law, will be launching the fourth edition of her textbook, Media and Entertainment Law. She points out the difficulties of print journalism after most people have started preferring online journalism. She says, “High-quality journalism continues to be under threat from the rise of clickbait and fake news.” This results in highly unregulated social media content and make the journalists question the authenticity of any news. In the fourth edition, she studies how the Brexit referendum was won simply through the means of social media.
She mainly indulges in how the younger audience can be saved from harmful content broadcasted on YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest that do not possess any sort of censorship. Smartt can relate to the story of British schoolgirl, Molly Russell, who took her own life after following age-inappropriate content on social media. However, she states, “I have come to the conclusion that in a digitally connected world without physical borders it has become near impossible to regulate these platforms effectively.”
Smartt is a lecturer at NCH at Northeastern University in London, she will be launching her new book there on the 4th of December. Her book deals with issues such as privacy, ethics, defamation of freedom of speech, and contempt. She concludes by saying that it is impossible to gain complete privacy in the age of the internet, especially for the people who disclose all their private content on social media.
Subarna Basu