The Onion, saying it like it is to its readers.

was thinking whether i should put this here, in current news due to the whole miley thing that caused this in the first place, or just plain-old shenanigans, let's go with here.

So, as managing editor of CNN.com, I want our readers to know this: All you are to us, and all you will ever be to us, are eyeballs. The more eyeballs on our content, the more cash we can ask for. Period. And if we’re able to get more eyeballs, that means I’ve done my job, which gets me congratulations from my bosses, which encourages me to put up even more stupid bullshit on the homepage.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/let-me-...was,33632/


people need to realize that it's the people itself that cause this kind of crappy news, because it's what actually interests them for good or for bad. the onion says it quite nicely.

Yes and no.

While it's true that all websites (and TV channels) live on "eyeballs", by that logic CNN.com should have become a tabloid long ago. And their TV channel a "reality show" platform.
Whatever reasons have kept them serious all these years should still be valid. Different target audience (and different advertisers accordingly), less competition, professional pride, whatever.

Yes and no.

While it's true that all websites (and TV channels) live on "eyeballs", by that logic CNN.com should have become a tabloid long ago. And their TV channel a "reality show" platform.
Whatever reasons have kept them serious all these years should still be valid. Different target audience (and different advertisers accordingly), less competition, professional pride, whatever.

and i agree, however on that same note (at least in the US when i was there and in panama where i live) i've seen a big decline in "serious" notices to open space for this kind of tabloid crap to go on air; slippery slope and all that.

Yea I already knew this. It takes all kinds of people (readers) to help keep these news sites a float. That's why they pack their pages with so much bullshi't along with the actual news.