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Clickbait culture: why rugby league readers, not just writers, are to blame

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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Posted

Really not sure what the purpose of this article was. I get the addressing of people’s theories that journalists don’t ask enough hard hitting questions but to then turn it and actively blame fans for not reading something that the author thought was good is, well, strange. 

Maybe fans are just fed up of turmoil, mud slinging, name calling, division and just general infighting within Rugby League. I know I am. I’m tired of Rugby League shooting itself in the foot again and again and again.

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Dunbar

Dunbar

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Surely the fact that stories on Halifax signing Tommy Lee and Sosaia Feki getting injured shows that most fans are just interested in the rugby itself and not the business/salary end of things.

Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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17 stone giant

17 stone giant

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1 hour ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Really not sure what the purpose of this article was.

I think Matt just wanted to explain how things are from his side of the fence (so to speak), because perhaps people aren't always aware of the difficulties that journalists face. It's not uncommon for someone to say that journalists should be doing XYZ, and so Matt is giving his insight as to why sometimes things happen the way they do. Personally, I found it interesting and thought provoking to read what he had to say. I can understand why he would feel frustrated sometimes with the circumstances that he's describing.

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17 stone giant

17 stone giant

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1 minute ago, DavidM said:

Whatever the problem is then it’s all our fault.

I don't see a need to be so sensitive. He wasn't saying that it's "all" anyones fault. He simply was explaining that while some people might want and expect stories about certain issues (things that perhaps require from the journalist a lot of time, effort, and risk - in terms of upsetting people), that once those stories are produced they don't necessarily attract enough interest from readers to have made the effort worthwhile. Certainly not when, as Matt explains, there are much less time consuming stories that the journalist could pursue.

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Matt Shaw

Matt Shaw

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Just to clarify a few things here.

I'm not at all bothered that the situation is what it is. Trust me, it would be far easier for me to spend my entire day getting transfer stories and nothing else. Easy life.

And I'm not bitter that particular piece didn't do well, disappointed, yes, but I'm not angry about it. It's happened several times and will happen several times more. On the flip side, certain pieces do great that I thought weren't all that, like the Huddersfield cowbell piece.

The point I'm making is that media, and for the sake of this topic, the rugby league media, is criticised for not being hard-hitting enough or for promoting players. But, from my experience, as I've seen during the pandemic, you do a good piece of 'journalism' and the transfer stories still do better. Same applies with feature interviews, they just don't draw.

As an example, the pay cuts piece referenced was out-performance by a piece on two Gold Coast players being offered to Super League clubs by 2.5 hits to 1. One took a five-minute phone-call and 15 minutes to research and write. The other took up the best part of two full days.

The reality is, there is more appetite for those stories than the in-depth, well-considered and well-researched articles. I was merely trying to explain the situation.

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Matt Shaw

Matt Shaw

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1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Surely the fact that stories on Halifax signing Tommy Lee and Sosaia Feki getting injured shows that most fans are just interested in the rugby itself and not the business/salary end of things.

Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

And this is another point I made in the piece. The sport's biggest strength is the on-field product but too often overshadowed by off-field politics. The stats on our website only reinforce that. Like I said, I'm not bemoaning it. But if your market wants something that's what you're going to give them.

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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7 minutes ago, Matt Shaw said:

I don't want them to change. I'm not asking them to. Like I say, I'm more than happy doing transfer stuff all day. I don't want things to change but there are a lot of people (including plenty on here very critical of the RL media) who do. 

Maybe if you keep saying that you don’t care, you’ll eventually believe it. 

 

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gingerjon

gingerjon

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32 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Does anybody actually read stuff on this website?

TBH, I don't read a huge amount of RL news for much the same reason I read less and less of my local paper: the content just isn't there. And in both cases I know that's not because the people who are writing the content are idiots, far from it. But something has gone wrong in terms of what's being passed on. It's mostly so passive, so insubstantial. And that's before you get to the issues about why is it saying I've not registered, or why is it laid out in such an unfriendly way etc etc

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Blind side johnny

Blind side johnny

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1 hour ago, Matt Shaw said:

Just to clarify a few things here.

I'm not at all bothered that the situation is what it is. Trust me, it would be far easier for me to spend my entire day getting transfer stories and nothing else. Easy life.

And I'm not bitter that particular piece didn't do well, disappointed, yes, but I'm not angry about it. It's happened several times and will happen several times more. On the flip side, certain pieces do great that I thought weren't all that, like the Huddersfield cowbell piece.

The point I'm making is that media, and for the sake of this topic, the rugby league media, is criticised for not being hard-hitting enough or for promoting players. But, from my experience, as I've seen during the pandemic, you do a good piece of 'journalism' and the transfer stories still do better. Same applies with feature interviews, they just don't draw.

As an example, the pay cuts piece referenced was out-performance by a piece on two Gold Coast players being offered to Super League clubs by 2.5 hits to 1. One took a five-minute phone-call and 15 minutes to research and write. The other took up the best part of two full days.

The reality is, there is more appetite for those stories than the in-depth, well-considered and well-researched articles. I was merely trying to explain the situation.

Fair comment but the problem isn't specific to RL is it?

Just read all the guff and misunderstanding around Covid-19 to see where some of the problem lies. People want simple, easily digested information which, by its very nature, is often misleading. This is a social problem, not confined to RL.

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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Dave T

Dave T

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1 hour ago, Matt Shaw said:

Just to clarify a few things here.

I'm not at all bothered that the situation is what it is. Trust me, it would be far easier for me to spend my entire day getting transfer stories and nothing else. Easy life.

And I'm not bitter that particular piece didn't do well, disappointed, yes, but I'm not angry about it. It's happened several times and will happen several times more. On the flip side, certain pieces do great that I thought weren't all that, like the Huddersfield cowbell piece.

The point I'm making is that media, and for the sake of this topic, the rugby league media, is criticised for not being hard-hitting enough or for promoting players. But, from my experience, as I've seen during the pandemic, you do a good piece of 'journalism' and the transfer stories still do better. Same applies with feature interviews, they just don't draw.

As an example, the pay cuts piece referenced was out-performance by a piece on two Gold Coast players being offered to Super League clubs by 2.5 hits to 1. One took a five-minute phone-call and 15 minutes to research and write. The other took up the best part of two full days.

The reality is, there is more appetite for those stories than the in-depth, well-considered and well-researched articles. I was merely trying to explain the situation.

Can I just check though Matt, what analysis was carried out on time published, where it was visible, traffic at the time it was live, how many couldn't get onto the article etc? 

Because that fails the sniff test as far as our business would be concerned. A piece on pay discussions within SL would without doubt have demand here, but I for one haven't seen any trace of it, and there is no reason to think a Gold Coast player article would be in demand. 

I think making the assumption it is all about interest in the subject may need further review. 

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M j M

M j M

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3 hours ago, Matt Shaw said:

As an example, the pay cuts piece referenced was out-performance by a piece on two Gold Coast players being offered to Super League clubs by 2.5 hits to 1. One took a five-minute phone-call and 15 minutes to research and write. The other took up the best part of two full days.

 

What it definitely suggests to me, amongst other things, is that LPL should never have got rid of Syd Scoop Supersnoop and The Insider. Presumably because they weren't highbrow enough.

Give the fans what they want!

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DoubleD

DoubleD

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3 hours ago, Matt Shaw said:

Just to clarify a few things here.

I'm not at all bothered that the situation is what it is. Trust me, it would be far easier for me to spend my entire day getting transfer stories and nothing else. Easy life.

And I'm not bitter that particular piece didn't do well, disappointed, yes, but I'm not angry about it. It's happened several times and will happen several times more. On the flip side, certain pieces do great that I thought weren't all that, like the Huddersfield cowbell piece.

The point I'm making is that media, and for the sake of this topic, the rugby league media, is criticised for not being hard-hitting enough or for promoting players. But, from my experience, as I've seen during the pandemic, you do a good piece of 'journalism' and the transfer stories still do better. Same applies with feature interviews, they just don't draw.

As an example, the pay cuts piece referenced was out-performance by a piece on two Gold Coast players being offered to Super League clubs by 2.5 hits to 1. One took a five-minute phone-call and 15 minutes to research and write. The other took up the best part of two full days.

The reality is, there is more appetite for those stories than the in-depth, well-considered and well-researched articles. I was merely trying to explain the situation.

Did you really think the pay cut piece was one of your best? I suppose I appreciate the amount of investigative effort put in. However, from a reader’s perspective, whilst mildly interesting, I didn’t get overly bothered by it. This pandemic is affecting everyone and pay cuts are inevitable. There will be a lot of back and forth negotiations as is the nature of the fluid situation. 

 I don’t think nitpicking between individual clubs proposals is particularly helpful. There are far more prominent stories in my opinion 

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