Tabloid Hell 3

A recent blog post in Your Shepway had many cyclists spitting out their energy drinks in shock. Gary Wright, the mid-week editor, gave his two pence worth about ‘militant cyclists’ (http://www.yourshepway.co.uk/blog.aspx?bid=155&source=0). In a well researched piece, Mr. Wright gave a nuanced view of the problem of “the most dangerous green Nazi in existence.”

Predictably, the post got a huge response, mostly from irate cyclists.

But aren’t people missing the point here? In the digital age, the more clicks a website can manage the better. What better way to get people clicking than posting up an inflammatory article. Mr. Wright (and the company accountants) must be laughing, although probably not all the way to the bank. Turning digital visitors into profits is something yet to be perfected, hence Mr. Murdoch’s recent suggestions of making his online content paid for.

As I remember it, the section that Mr. Wright’s article appeared used to be for readers to send in their own columns. Presumably his appearance is not an indication that no-one can be bothered to send in stuff.

Looking down the list of previous blogs it seems that ‘shock blogs’ are posted fairly regularly, presumably to garner the same response. Mr. Wrights comedic tour de force is far from alone. “Immigrants – one rule for us and one rule for them” (http://www.yourshepway.co.uk/blog.aspx?bid=34&source=0) is another. Perhaps these ‘shock blogs’ are symptomatic of a nasty editorial line, and suspicion that this is a marketing ploy is actually the optimistic viewpoint.