BuzzFeed?

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, June 18th, 2015 - 20 comments
Categories: Media, news - Tags: ,

No, it’s Stuff this morning.

stuffed

20 comments on “BuzzFeed? ”

  1. ianmac 1

    Our World must be in a good place if the headlines at Stuff are a guide!

  2. vaughan little 2

    turns out content is expensive.

    • dukeofurl 2.1

      Expensive is having a print version, a desktop version AND a mobile version.

      Seems like the desktop has just become the mobile version and coming soon will be a ‘premium version’ that has stuff written by real reporters that will cost you 10c per story.

  3. Lanthanide 3

    I think stuff have really declined in quality in the last 2 years. Apparently their readership has grown by 50% in 18 months and they were #4 on the top 10 most visited sites in NZ (no other media outlets were in the top 10). They beat Trademe, at #5.

    Seems that this mindless drek is popular.

    • r0b 3.1

      Aye, there’s the rub.

    • Tom Gould 3.2

      I think they call it ‘click bait’. A good example is “Cryptic proposal pays off.” The purpose of news is no longer to inform. It is no longer about the public interest buy now about what is interesting to the public. It exists, in this new genre, to attract an audience to the advertising. Which makes it entertainment and by definition purely commercial. Radio and TV have their equivalents. Key and Joyce mastered this years ago, which is why they are stuck on 50 per cent. And it will only get worse unless the left wise-up and deal with the media world as it is, rather than how they would like it to be.

  4. James 4

    As a commercial interest – they are smart to change to get what provides viewers (thus revenue).

    Its their site – and just like the owners of this site dont like being told to do and prefer to keep the site “focused” – its not a commercial entity – and nor is it designed to be (I assume).

    You cannot tell people not to bitch about what your site does, then bitch about what other people do with theirs. They have no requirement to provide to you what you want, but do have a commitment to their shareholders to provide what “the increased number of viewers” want. If you dont like it – You can add it to your individual list of boycotts.

    • Sacha 4.1

      ‘News’ media organisations have some obligations in exchange for their legal privileges like not having to reveal sources and greater access to court cases etc. If instead they want to peddle fluff that attracts clicks from outside NZ then I’d be happy to see those privileges stripped.

    • Tracey 4.2

      Does NZ support freedom of the press by law?

      Press freedom in New Zealand is guaranteed by convention and statute rather than constitutional right, and it is supplemented by freedom of information legislation passed in 1982. Sedition legislation was abolished in 2007

      I guess I am wondering if freedom of the press (as opposed to expression) exists because of the public interest/duty they hold, particularly in relationship to holding democratic governments to account. IF a media is not doing that but rather is being entertainment focussed, does it meet public interest/duty test?

  5. Draco T Bastard 5

    Could it be that having an informed populace keeps RWNJ governments out of power?

    • Brutus Iscariot 5.1

      What’s an “RWNJ government”?

      • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1

        These days, pretty much any and all right wing governments no matter which colours that they fly or names that they gave themselves. In NZ that would be National/Act, Republicans in the US and Tory in the UK.

  6. b waghorn 6

    Might I be so rude as to point out that there would be two or three links to stuff from this site daily so it might pay not to get all high and mighty.

    • r0b 6.1

      There are people at Stuff doing good work and we link to it. Those people very seldom feature on the front page, they are getting buried in garbage. I don’t imagine they are thrilled about it.

      • b waghorn 6.1.1

        Yes I’ve always wondered why the politics page only comes into view once you click the national news link. Are they hiding it on purpose or are so few people interested that it doesn’t deserve its own spot.?

  7. debatewatcher 7

    Stuff’s news values were recently summed up brilliantly by this gem from the Neetflux satirical Tumblr blog. It’s so good that perhaps mods could add it on as an image at the top of this post?

    http://neetflux.tumblr.com/post/121541227932