A weekly editor whose newspaper published revealing pictures of celebrities on its website despite the lack of a local connection has defended the move.
The Maidstone and Medway News, part of the Local World group, recently covered a national news story about the online leaking of nude pictures of celebrities.
It was illustrated by a picture of an American fashion model, Erin Heatherton and another celebrity with no known link to the paper’s patch.
But although the move led to criticism from another journalist within the LW group, editor Simon Findlay has defended the practice.
He told the media commentator Roy Greenslade: “You can call it clickbait if you like, which it is.
“We’re a new website, just a couple of months old, and we’re trying to drive an audience to our site. These national stories are teasers. They do get us thousands of hits and that’s a good thing.”
Simon argued that by using national stories to draw readers to the site encouraged users to to read other, more serious, items such as a poll on next month’s Rochester and Strood by-election.
He said: “So far we’ve had 1,500 people take part, which is more than take part in most online polls.”
Award-winning Croydon Advertiser journalist Gareth Davies has earlier criticised the use of so-called clickbait in a Twitter post.
He wrote: “A paper in our group getting tens of thousands of hits by posting ‘stories’ about nude photos of US celebrities. It’s bullshit and I hate it.”
He followed it up with a second Tweet saying: “Trying to cash in on breach of privacy to get hits off perverts is utterly shameless.”
Simon responded: “I respect Gareth Davies and that’s his point of view, which is fine. He is free to say what he likes. But we’re engaged here in building an online audience and this is proving to be a successful way of doing it.”
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Gareth is right – it is bullshit.
The story may well have got numerous hits but these aren’t really worth anything. Advertisers pay fractions of pennies per hit – so this isn’t a valid revenue stream in its own right.
If the ambition is to go to local advertisers with a pitch to sell advertising based on “we have an audience of XXX”, this is flawed, since the vast majority of these hits will be from out of area, so are of no value to local advertisers.
That leaves national advertisers as targets, and are they likely to pay for advertising on a regional’s website in the hope it may attract a fraction of people interested in national stories? No. They’ll pay for advertising with nationals.
There’s also the fact that these people who visit the site because of clickbait aren’t going to return to read stories about the local council’s budget debate – so you’re getting a one off influx.
As for the point that a lot of the people drawn in by this story participated in a poll on the Rochester and Strood by-election…
I hardly think trumpeting the fact that hundreds of people with no knowledge of the area have clicked a box online lends the result of the poll any validity.
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I’m with you, Gareth.
“We’re engaged in building an online audience…” That does not mean you can stop talking like a human being.
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Mr Nice has it totally correct.
And for the record, as a journalist I wouldn’t particularly want Sunday Sport on my cv.
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“A top, top, top operator…” who has a lot of form when it comes to terribe journalism: http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2011/news/editor-hits-back-at-silly-season-claims/
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If this is a paper being shaken up I will take mine stirred. How bright do you have to be to think this up? You really cannot any lower in your aspirations. The lady is pretty though, I grant you that, even if she isn’t local.
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Its depressing how virtually all websites are really just becoming daily mail clones. The daily mail have a lot to answer for!
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Yes indeed – most regional paper advertising is sold on the basis of you’re reaching a regional audience. You can’t sell national advertising unless it’s megahits. So you’re getting hits, but they’re not local readers so you don’t gain financially from it. It’s also readers who don’t want anything else you offer, so it’s a one off. It’s effectively a waste of effort I’m afraid.
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Not only was the story a waste of time but it also took the reporter off something that would have added value
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The basic fact is having a lot of hits is useless unless they translate into hard cash. So pretty girls might increase your hit count but they might not win you extra advertising income, which is all that counts. Tastes put aside, if the girls bring extra cash it will be a great idea. If.
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In reply to Observer50. I am as proud to have Daily and Sunday Sport on my CV as Daily and Sunday Mirror, Telegraph, Mail, Star, Bolton Evening News, Leigh Journal and Farnworth and Worsley Journal. Maybe more so. Some people really are so precious these PC days.
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Is this the same editor that lost half the paid circulation of the Dover distress and Folkestone herald in less than 6 years.
We are all now how poor this is why anyone can call it an gendarme it’s just demeans us all.
Another nail in our credibility.
Do we really think we cn monetize averting from credible businesses with rubbish like this.
Click gate no crapgate
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Sorry for mistakes there’s no local subs left
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I get his point, they need ranking in google for the most part. I run a cafe in Broadstairs, If i get say 5 people in Broadstairs visit my sit a day, thats pretty relevant, but to google, you need a good few hundred, even if they are in seattle USA or wherever. If they dont get many hits, local or not, google will ignore/rank low. Oblivious to it being a local orientated website.
Although doubt anyone is going to return and read again if not local
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I once desperately put a most trivial story on my paper’s website to meet upload quotas from management.
It went viral. I lost the will to live journalistically after that.
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I can vouch for Simon. As rival news agency reporters back-in-the-day he was one of the good guys. Didn’t pretend there was “nothing on here” – walk out the building then go round the side sneaking back in as others did to him. National newspapers’ loss was local newspapers’ gain. If anyone can rescue them – Simon can. No need for some of the cheap shots on here. Looks like an agenda to me.
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She may have been to Maidstone once on a half-day excursion. Did anyone ask her?
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As soon as you use the term ‘hit’ you lose any credibility in a digital world.
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