4 ms·

Key point Mr Hancock said there was "nothing to suggest" it caused worse disease or that vaccines would no longer work. Fairly clickbaity headline to use on

Key point Mr Hancock said there was "nothing to suggest" it caused worse disease or that vaccines would no longer work. Fairly clickbaity headline to use on the first week people are receiving the vaccine.

roywiggins 6y ago
"new variant" is literally a quote from a government minister. I don't think that's the usual definition of "clickbait". How would you rephrase it?
- ben_w 6y ago
  My impression of the current U.K. government is that the only thing it can do well is utter “clickbait”-style soundbites. This is suboptimal, and I hope my impression is inaccurate.
  - mnd999 6y ago
    You pretty much nailed it.
  - roywiggins 6y ago
    What does "clickbait" mean in this context? Traditional clickbait is "you won't believe what just happened, click to read!". I have no love for the UK government, but clickbait is not the word that comes to mind. Here's the quote: “Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the fastest spread of the virus in the south-east of England. “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variance [sic, should be 'variants'?]. We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas and numbers are increasing rapidly.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/new-strain-of-covid-19-may-be-cause-of-rise-in-cases-hancock-tells-mps https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/new-strain-of-...
  - bb123 6y ago
    I mean how else would you describe it? Mutated? New strain? Genetically altered? all the alternatives seem considerably more alarmist to me.
Jaruzel 6y ago
Having just watched him say it in Parliament. That quote is exactly what he said. He did however also add further details that focused research is now ongoing to establish exactly if this variant is a problem or not in regards to the vaccine efficacy. The main problem with the mass-Media is that they are so keen to a) publish a click-bait headline, and b) keep the word count to a minimum so as not to scare off their illiterate readers, that the actual truth of news gets lost or diluted... to the extent that the articles no longer form any function other than to generate clicks.
- roywiggins 6y ago
  The BBC has an obligation to reach everyone, including people who aren't strong readers. It's a public service broadcaster.
  - Jaruzel 6y ago
    I wasn't calling out the BBC per-se. My points are true of all news media sites. As a literate person with an higher than average reading comprehension, who do I talk to in the BBC to get news articles on their website that contain proper in-depth content and words beyond Key Stage 2? As a licence fee paying UK citizen, I'd really like to know.

roywiggins 6y ago

"new variant" is literally a quote from a government minister. I don't think that's the usual definition of "clickbait". How would you rephrase it?

ben_w 6y ago
My impression of the current U.K. government is that the only thing it can do well is utter “clickbait”-style soundbites. This is suboptimal, and I hope my impression is inaccurate.
- mnd999 6y ago
  You pretty much nailed it.
- roywiggins 6y ago
  What does "clickbait" mean in this context? Traditional clickbait is "you won't believe what just happened, click to read!". I have no love for the UK government, but clickbait is not the word that comes to mind. Here's the quote: “Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the fastest spread of the virus in the south-east of England. “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variance [sic, should be 'variants'?]. We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas and numbers are increasing rapidly.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/new-strain-of-covid-19-may-be-cause-of-rise-in-cases-hancock-tells-mps https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/new-strain-of-...
- bb123 6y ago
  I mean how else would you describe it? Mutated? New strain? Genetically altered? all the alternatives seem considerably more alarmist to me.

Jaruzel 6y ago

Having just watched him say it in Parliament. That quote is exactly what he said. He did however also add further details that focused research is now ongoing to establish exactly if this variant is a problem or not in regards to the vaccine efficacy. The main problem with the mass-Media is that they are so keen to a) publish a click-bait headline, and b) keep the word count to a minimum so as not to scare off their illiterate readers, that the actual truth of news gets lost or diluted... to the extent that the articles no longer form any function other than to generate clicks.

roywiggins 6y ago
The BBC has an obligation to reach everyone, including people who aren't strong readers. It's a public service broadcaster.
- Jaruzel 6y ago
  I wasn't calling out the BBC per-se. My points are true of all news media sites. As a literate person with an higher than average reading comprehension, who do I talk to in the BBC to get news articles on their website that contain proper in-depth content and words beyond Key Stage 2? As a licence fee paying UK citizen, I'd really like to know.