Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Roe on August 30, 2010 at 13:20

Gossip appeals to mainstream society. We all want to be rich and famous, we'll many of us, and love to read about the lives of those who have made it - Soap Opera Syndrome, one could call it. Something to do with escaping from reality. And times are tough at the moment. People have enough of their own problems, and are not too keen on being burdened with those of others.

The TIME piece is hard edged reality, and, let's face it, makes for depressing reading, well written or not.

People will read articles like the one in TIME because of TIME's reputation, but those readers are in a minority - they are educated, cultured and with an awareness of the world around them. Then there is the fact that many readers are not able to appreciate good writing, as the sales of many best-selling novels attest. Stephen King, while he writes readable stories, is not a capable of using English in the way Hemingway was - but for King's audience, this just does not matter.

Write, or report, in a sensationalistic style (look at some of Italy's top news programs for examples of this), which goes against the true tenets of good journalism, and you'll get readers. Report cold hard facts, and you won't. In view of the success of many blogs, opinionated writing counts, which means that articles could do with being written in the style of a columnist, not that of a journalist. This seems to work on the web, which is ever more becoming the main outlet for journalism, like it or not, and there is no reason why this style cannot be transferred to print.

There are ways websites can monitor how popular or not a certain writer is to an extent. Things like bounce rate, returning visitors, time on site etc. Experimenting with a variety of styles can take place via web publications to see what attracts and holds readers, and what works on the web can, possibly, be transferred to print. The style guide can then be modified appropriately - and changed from time to time to reflect the mood which prevails at a local or national level.

Readers, in my opinion, are bombarded with things to read nowadays, and they want things which are easy to digest. Give this to them, and you'll end up with success, otherwise the same readers will go off and read gossip.

I'm an upstart blogger, so I'd be interested to hear what a few real journalists think, for better or for worse! But I do have one fan who was a major league journalist, and is a professor of journalism - a person who seems to think what I do is pretty much where journalism is going. I mix hardisg edged pieces in with articles with more popular appeal - the ratio is probably around 5 to 1 - 5 general interest items and one more gritty item, along with a few comments.

Try experimenting with different styles and mixing in some comment - and remember that the shelf-life of www content is much longer than that of print content which is ignored the next day.

Permalink Reply by Veronika Krupova on August 30, 2010 at 15:04

I agree hundred percent what you have written, Alex. My article or more precisely title of my article was maybe misleading. Of course I don't expect that people would change their thinking about news because of one article. Unfortunately there is any button to switch their mind to buy the New York Times instead of US Weekly etc.
New boost into media life might bring this kind of project - Spot.us (by this time in the US only)...the idea behind is that public votes with their money for the stories they want to investigate.
What do you think?

Permalink Reply by Alex Roe on August 30, 2010 at 15:35

The Spot.us concept is novel, Veronika. I wonder how successful it is.

Sort of a web based news agency for investigative freelancers. Very interesting. Crowd funding theory - a few of these sites are springing up. Must appeal to editors too, I imagine, even if some of the subjects are a little offbeat, but if they get community support, then someone must want to read about what is being written, photographed, and filmed.

Something to keep an eye on - which I will do. It will be interesting to see if it is still around in a year or so, or if it grows. Hopefully the latter will be true and the concept will expand. Might help launch a few careers too.

Let's see what others have to say about this.

Permalink Reply by Răzvan Cârcu on September 23, 2010 at 21:22

Alex, you're quite right. You see, Veronika, people in my country (Romania) as well as in yours - I presume- work more than 8 hours a day for a slightly insufficient pay check at the end of the month. The thing is that once the reader/viewer gets home, all (s)he wants to do is relax.

In this fast-running society, the principle of catharsis reigns upon all others. People need to release tension, emotions, frustrations. All that is somehow crowded under one's ”hood”. Frustrations have their origin in conflicts with lovers, colleagues, bosses.

Why do you think men watch football games? They shout and hence the discharge caused by inner ”problems”. It's our way of dealing with problems!

From another point of view, you should keep in mind that not all people are the same in matters of interests and intellectual power. Some are wise, some are ... otherwise :D It's quite simple why most people choose yellow press instead of broadsheet newspapers: the intelligent ones are fed up with ”hard information” (they deal with it all day long at work) and the less-intelligent ones of the mob are incapable to ”digest” hard news.

Also, people have always manifested interest in what their neighbours are doing. (Think of the old lady in the building, always staring outside her window, knowing everything about everyone). So why would things change now? It's much more easier nowadays to keep ”tabs” on someone (via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YM or just by accessing their computers :)) ).

As Alex said the rich and famous represent an ideal for the common people that work more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. So getting in touch with their life and some way or another escaping from real life is what gets them off. Yellow journalism is like a mild form of pornography - it satisfies a need!

Permalink Reply by Alex Roe on September 24, 2010 at 14:14

Hi Răzvan, you've basically reinforced what I claimed, and as for "Yellow journalism" satisfying a need, yes, I'd agree with that.

We all do different things to relax, some play football, others read gossip, and a few gather information. The vast majority merely want to be entertained, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Clever people might like to create a website which mixes gossip with tougher issues which are presented in a reader-friendly fashion. Things like 'Lady Gaga goes Solar', which could be about Gaga putting solar panels all over her mansions. Sales of solar panels would increase shortly after and the world would be a greener place.

I do mix popular items in with harder edged stuff or tackle difficult issues via humour on my BlogfromItaly.com blog - these are both techniques which can attract different categories of readers and, possibly, persuade them to stay a little longer and read pieces which might stimulate their grey matter a little. My approach works in part, in that visits are on the up, but page views remain pretty low. More experimentation is required to get the balance right, and 'related articles' systems can make a difference.

So, you write about Lady Gaga's latest concert or new attire, and then pop a link to related post on Gaga going gaga over solar power! Bob's your uncle! ...theoretically ;)

I'll keep experimenting.

Permalink Reply by Emma Brewin on August 31, 2010 at 11:42

Gossip writing will always be popular, I think. I found out the other day that the online version of one of the UK tabloids The Daily Mail, has 40 million unique users and rising.

The article that cited this stated that perhaps its success was down to its 'women-friendly' format - at a time when women are the fastest-growing, most advertiser-attractive audience in town.

Interesting, but I wold like to think that women are very interested in reading hard-hitting, important news and features like the story about Afghan women that you mention Veronika.

The fascination with gossip doesn't indicate a lack of interest in other genres/story styles - does it?

Permalink Reply by jason brown on September 21, 2010 at 13:29

...

"The fascination with gossip doesn't indicate a lack of interest in other genres/story styles - does it?"

I'd say no - quite the opposite.

Instead, interest in gossip and might even encourage engagement. People start with celebrity news because it is fun, interesting and - most importantly - personally non-threatening.

Once emboldened, more than a few might venture on to other areas. Say, when a celebrity endorses an environmental action or movement. This might encourage others to also get involved.

So while more worthy subjects might appear to languish in the (huge) shadow of celebrity culture, and there seems to be some academic support for such thinking, I still wonder if community exposure to the woes and wiles of Hollywood actually breeds participation.

AKA Britney Spears Saves the World !

. . .

Permalink Reply by jason brown on September 24, 2010 at 1:48

. . .

aw, gee

no one wants to play

go spears !

. . .

Permalink Reply by Alex Roe on September 24, 2010 at 14:00

You aint' gone Gaga yet then, I take it.

Or maybe you have ;)

Permalink Reply by jason brown on December 14, 2010 at 13:26

. . .

 

Sheesh, showin' me age. 

 

So, yes, Gaga is awesomeness! My favourite video is her first one, with the guy passed out beside the garden path, on his way into the party. 

 

Agree Alex with your response below, especially the bit about soap operas. My impression is that people engage less with more complex stories because of two main factors:

 

1. Stories are way more complex than they used to be. News anchors used to be a voice of the nation, sternly delivering the evening news. Now the news 'cycle' is 24/7 with instant review, analysis, critique and commentary. Where news media used to voluntarily sugar coat their stories so as not to scare the horses, people are getting more and more information, daily, about the 'real story' about our planet - and how unrelentingly awful much of it can be.

 

2. Workers used to be home by 6 and on the dinner table with their families. Now every one is an economic 'unit' and expected to work longer, harder and for less money than they used to even 10, 20 years ago. So much so that the WHO estimates that mental health will be the developed world's leading issue by 2015, and the developing world by 2050. 

 

Given those factors, no wonder people take refuge in gossip, for light relief. And, most importantly, an opportunity to make easy and inconsequential judgements on celebrity activity, rather than, say, our own increasingly meaningless and consumerist lifestyles of the poor and unfamous!

 

. . .

Permalink Reply by Alex Roe on September 24, 2010 at 13:59

"Instead, interest in gossip might even encourage engagement."

I partially agree with this, in that it is true that if a celebrity becomes involved in a cause, and this is reported in the gossip press, then some people will want to know more, but the average Joe's capacity to absorb trivia is much higher than his ability to engage with stories which have much greater potential consequences for society as a whole.

Clever organisations can exploit 'gossip power' to bring certain issues to the attention of the masses, and, let's face it, for many people, gossip is fun, which is the point Răzvan makes in his comment on this matter. While I am not a fan, I can understand the appeal of soap operas, and these types of programmes have been used to address certain issues which do not receive massive attention on more than one occasion.

I suppose it all boils down to why we read - to be entertained or to be informed. The masses want to be entertained, and find an escape from their mundane lives.

Britney Spears is a bit old hat now, it'll be Lady Gaga who saves the world, maybe! ;)

Permalink Reply by Qamar-ul-Munir on September 22, 2010 at 9:49

Dear friends,
About Afghanistan many writers, wrote the articles and news but as per my own experience, all the persons wrote what they seen on the spot and may be this will created by some one for the writer on the field, about Afghan Husband many has written but unfortunately why we are ignoring the weaknesses of the NATO personals regarding Afghan? the Afghanistan is now a days like a great field for planting the plants but this is for limited periods. i saw many our friends as they are covering the reports in Afghanistan under the umbrella of the NATO forces, and more than 80% Afghans don't like the Foreign troops in Afghanistan, so we can not consider these reports on Facts bases, there are 50.50 chances ...what i saw these are different, in Northern Alliance Area i was covering report for Norway TV2 and i saw many things there while in Papers we are reading the different type of stories, i am considering these a part of propaganda as part of the mass communication as a tool...