4 ms·

It's a pun, not clickbait. This is not the death of "journalistic integrity".

teddyh 11y ago
No, the original title is clearly clickbait – meant to be misinterpreted as something other than what the article is about. Here is what a real pun in a newspaper headline looks like: http://threepanelsoul.com/2010/03/22/on-astronomy-minors/ http://threepanelsoul.com/2010/03/22/on-astronomy-minors/
- bbcbasic 11y ago
  It's a pun PUN: Attack on the pentagon results in discovery of new mathematical tile CB: Breaking News: Pentagon attack
  - nickysielicki 11y ago
    Yeah, it's a pun. So what? The title being a pun doesn't make it any less misleading. Puns and clickbait are not mutually exclusive. My real gripe is that there's a time and place for everything and a newspaper ought to know and respect that line. You don't mislead someone skimming your headlines into thinking the pentagon has been attacked for the sake of a joke. I like clever headlines as much as the next guy, and I understand that for the sake of a joke you might leave some ambiguity in the air and mislead your reader slightly, but this goes far past that. I think his editor should have caught this.
    - bbcbasic 11y ago
      I think using the word 'mathematical tile' indicates that it is a maths/geek article rather than serious news, and takes this into the safe zone. Just. It's a fine line though.
- hanoz 11y ago
  The title, being a pun, is only meant to be misinterpreted for the first half of the sentence. It can hardly be clickbait if the reveal is made by the end of the anchor text.
- teddyh 11y ago
  The address changed: http://threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-astronomy-minors/ http://threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-astronomy-minors/
nickysielicki 11y ago
You put 'journalistic integrity' in quotes. FWIW, SPJ uses this exact term in their ethics code. I'm not trying to be pretentious. https://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf https://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf

No, the original title is clearly clickbait – meant to be misinterpreted as something other than what the article is about. Here is what a real pun in a newspaper headline looks like: http://threepanelsoul.com/2010/03/22/on-astronomy-minors/ http://threepanelsoul.com/2010/03/22/on-astronomy-minors/

bbcbasic 11y ago
It's a pun PUN: Attack on the pentagon results in discovery of new mathematical tile CB: Breaking News: Pentagon attack
- nickysielicki 11y ago
  Yeah, it's a pun. So what? The title being a pun doesn't make it any less misleading. Puns and clickbait are not mutually exclusive. My real gripe is that there's a time and place for everything and a newspaper ought to know and respect that line. You don't mislead someone skimming your headlines into thinking the pentagon has been attacked for the sake of a joke. I like clever headlines as much as the next guy, and I understand that for the sake of a joke you might leave some ambiguity in the air and mislead your reader slightly, but this goes far past that. I think his editor should have caught this.
  - bbcbasic 11y ago
    I think using the word 'mathematical tile' indicates that it is a maths/geek article rather than serious news, and takes this into the safe zone. Just. It's a fine line though.
hanoz 11y ago
The title, being a pun, is only meant to be misinterpreted for the first half of the sentence. It can hardly be clickbait if the reveal is made by the end of the anchor text.
teddyh 11y ago
The address changed: http://threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-astronomy-minors/ http://threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-astronomy-minors/

nickysielicki 11y ago

You put 'journalistic integrity' in quotes. FWIW, SPJ uses this exact term in their ethics code. I'm not trying to be pretentious. https://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf https://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf