Internet causes article-by-article competition

Posted by Carolyn Lo on March 26, 2008 at 2:08 PM

Michael Scherer, a blogger for Time, notices an interesting development with online news: articles now have a growing value since they are read individually, instead of being "packaged" in a newspaper.

Since news sites are paid by how many hits they receive, the article with the most hits brings in the money. Consequently, competition to distinguish one's article intensifies. Articles that succeed online tend to be more provocative or contentious.

Scherer calls the story-by-story competition "a blessing and a curse" because it compels journalists to write better and the value of news increases, but also reporters may be pressured to "push boundaries of provocation." How does one make his/her article on Hillary Clinton stand out from all the other ones that would be published that day?

Source: Time