Depends on the newspaper. Long before there were clicks, editors (driven by their publishers) strove to get more readers by coming up with headlines and stories

Depends on the newspaper. Long before there were clicks, editors (driven by their publishers) strove to get more readers by coming up with headlines and stories and other elements (such as cartoons) that they couldn't find elsewhere. In the United States sensationalistic headlines were part of the "Yellow Journalism" trend in the late 1800s - this is how Pulitzer and Hearst got their starts. Britain perfected the art of the tabloid headline, so much so that it exported some of its best writers to Australia and the United States, which is how Rupert Murdoch was able to expand. Advertisers used similar techniques, leveraging current events and sensationalism to grab eyeballs and customers. A few years ago I found this example (https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-clickbait-and-keyword.html https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-cli..., scroll to the bottom) in a regional newspaper in western NY while doing genealogical research. It was from 1904.