A few years ago I was talking to an editor of a major newspaper who had to make some tough decisions about what topics his reporters would cover and what stories would make the front page. He noted, like almost everyone in the media business does, that clicks and traffic matter now more than ever.
For those who haven’t been paying attention to the economics of journalism — let’s just say that the future is pretty bleak. Which means that there’s an incentive among editors to focus on stories that they know will get some traction.
He was fully aware that stories with scandal, violence and corruption get a lot more clicks than a feel good story about a family reuniting with their long lost pet. He mentioned a term to me that I have been thinking about a lot — “negativity bias.” It’s the idea that negative stories draw more eyeballs than positive ones.
Read Full Article »