The age of cable news changed our media distribution model by creating a 24 hour news cycle, which meant finding more information and more analysis (THE SUMMER OF SHARKS!) to keep viewers watching. The age of digital news has changed the distribution model in a much larger way: news consumers have transformed into news distributors, spreading the media’s work across their networks. It is a new and powerful dynamic, but instead of finding more information to share, media must optimize the way they present news so that consumers do their part and distribute it.
A click can mean more than an educated reader; a share can outrank an enlightened viewer; and outrage — outrage is the pinnacle, because an outraged consumer almost always clicks, but an outraged consumer always shares.
You can’t blame media outlets that suddenly find themselves in a world where a snappy headline writer may have more monetary value on a spreadsheet than an exhaustive investigative reporter. You do have to understand their challenge as you read stories, and especially headlines.
If a tree falls into an algorithm and never lands in my Facebook Newsfeed, did it really fall?
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