CLICKBAIT AS BULLSHITTING: ATTITUDES OF CROATIAN JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS

Abstract

In this paper, the views of Croatian journalists and editors on clickbait are presented on the basis of semi-structured interviews with editors and journalists of the three Croatian daily newspapers with largest circulation, which also have their own news websites – Jutarnji list, Večernji list and 24sata, that were conducted in 2023. The research showed that financial necessity and increasing the reach of online editions are the main reasons for using clickbait, while editors and journalists emphasize the attracting function of headlines, whereby its informative aspect is neglected. Journalists and editors justify this practice by saying that the sensationalist headlines cannot overshadow quality articles, but it turns out that they do not perceive the danger that clickbait headlines often lead to worthless content. Some editors and journalists still believe that bullshitting, as it can be characterized in terms of the linguistic modus operandi, may be harmful to the medium in the long term, despite the obvious immediate financial benefit. The research also pointed to the important problem of applying different standards when editing an article for the printed edition, and then using clickbait in the electronic edition, not always with the author’s approval.