CNN Goes Upworthy with Terrible Headline About Dead Girl; You Won’t Believe How Annoyed People Got
This story about how a respected news network like CNN took a page out of the Upworthy link-bait headline-writing book will amaze you. Just wait until you read about what happened next.
On Thursday morning, the cable news network tweeted out a story teaser that clearly aims to mimic how the cool kids with their music and their CD records have been crafting headlines lately:
14-year-old girl stabbed her little sister 40 times, police say. The reason why will shock you. http://t.co/5ZFqHFrviw
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 23, 2014
Here’s the actual story: “Police: Girl, 14, stabs sister 40 times because she felt unappreciated.”
Yes, a major breaking news Twitter account with 15 million followers teased a story about a 14-year-old girl murdering her 11-year-old sister in a way that screamed “MURDER! HORRIBLE TRAGEDY! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHY!”
HyperVocal pulled out some of the angry responses, and we’ll add a few to that pile:
@cnnbrk NO. YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS. DO NOT DO UPWORTHY HEADLINES OMG
— Sam Gavin (@samgavindotcom) January 23, 2014
@cnnbrk More shocked CNN is falling for this type of headline writing. I guess if you need those hooks and lures, use them in abundance.
— John Book (@thisisjohnbook) January 23, 2014
@RodneyRamsey when CNN is taking copywriting cues from Upworthy, it's time to throw in the towel. Yikes.
— Arlene Wszalek (@Wzzy) January 23, 2014
Oh for God's sake, CNN, come on: “@cnnbrk: 14-year-old girl stabbed her little sister 40 times, police say. The reason why will shock you."
— Samuel Axon (@SamuelAxon) January 23, 2014
.@cnnbrk: Don't end tweet about 14yo girl who brutally kills sister with "the reason will shock you" and expect to be taken seriously.
— Filiberto Gonzalez (@gofiliberto) January 23, 2014
Mediaite readers may recall how this very writer nominated “Upworthy headlines” the worst media meme of 2013.
[h/t HyperVocal]
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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
