STRATEGIES FOR CREATING HEADLINES ON SERBIAN ONLINE NEWS PORTALS
Abstract
Online media are assuming greater role when it comes to informing public in Serbia, currently holding second place, after Television, which is still the main source of information. The article is based on empirical pilot research project which gave us basis for better understanding of how much the leading Serbian online media use the approach which can be described as „fake news“ or „clickbait“ strategy when it comes to creating News headlines, and how this can influence quality of their reporting. We have monitored all articles from „News“ section of three News portals in Serbia: Blic.rs, Kurir.rs and Telegraf.rs. Using the content analysis method, the headlines of the news were classified as „fake news“, „clickbait“ or „appropriate“. The additional research examined the headline as for their potential biased formulation, as well as usage of inappropriate wording. Research has shown that media in question are mostly using appropriate headlines, but there is also certain number of „fake news“ headlines, as well as a significant number of „clickbait“ headlines. It’s been noticed that these approaches were used for news that are most important for public information such as: politics, public health and general safety, what is a worrying tendency. The majority of biased headlines were related to political issues, which can imply undesirable lack of media objectivity. Inappropriate language (wording) has mostly been found in headlines covering Crime section, which can imply "tabloid" approach in those media.
References
Brooks, M. (2019, September 6). How does clickbait work. Retrieved 1. August 2020. from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tech-happy-life/201909/how-does-clickbait-work
EAVI – Media Literacy for Citizenship (2020, June 19). Infographic: Beyond Fake News – 10 Types of Misleading News – 17 Languages and counting. Retrieved 1. August 2020. from: https://eavi.eu/infographic-beyond-fake-news-10-types-of-misleading-news-17-languages/
Ireton, C. & Posetti, J. (2018). Journalism, „Fake News“ & Disniformation. Paris: UNESCO.
Gabielkov, M., Ramachandran, A., Chaintreau, A., & Legout, A., (2016, June 14). Social Clicks: What and Who Gets Read on Twitter?. Retrieved 1. August 2020. from: https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01281190/document
Martinoli, A. (2013). Publika i medijski multitasking – podeljena pažnja u eri multiplatformnosti. CM Communication and Media, 28: 41-68.
Merriam Webster Dictionary (2020). Definition of clickbait. Retrieved 1. August 2020. from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clickbait
Milivojević, S. (2012). Uvod: Novinarstvo za informaciono društvo. CM Communication and Media 7(24), 29-34.
Steinmetz, K. (2017, September 27). The Dictionary Is Adding An Entry for 'Fake News'. Retrieved 1. August 2020. from: https://time.com/4959488/donald-trump-fake-news-meaning/
Wardle, C. & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder - Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Zakon o javnom informisanju Republike Srbije. Službeni Glasnik RS, broj 83/2014.
Copyright
Authors retain copyright of the published papers and grant to the publisher the non-exclusive right to publish the article, to be cited as its original publisher in case of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media.
Licensing
The published articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA). It is allowed to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and remix, transform, and build upon it for any purpose, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), a link to the license is provided, it is indicated if changes were made and the new work is distributed under the same license as the original.
Users are required to provide full bibliographic description of the original publication (authors, article title, journal title, volume, issue, pages), as well as its DOI code. In electronic publishing, users are also required to link the content with both the original article published in CM: Communication and Media and the licence used.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Self-archiving policy
Authors are permitted to deposit author’s publisher's version (PDF) of their work in an institutional repository, subject-based repository, author's personal website (including social networking sites, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.), at any time after publication.
Full bibliographic information (authors, article title, journal title, volume, issue, pages) about the original publication must be provided and links must be made to the article's DOI and the license.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in the published works do not express the views of the Editors and the Editorial Staff. The authors take legal and moral responsibility for the ideas expressed in the articles. Publisher shall have no liability in the event of issuance of any claims for damages. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.