5 ms·

More like: After a two-year spike in the number of active investors in US VC it returns to 2020 levels.

by TomK32 3y ago

magicalhippo 3y ago
I see this in other reporting as well. "Massive drop in X" or similar, when reality is it's returning to pre-Covid levels. Almost like journalists collectively forgot how the world was before Covid.
- j4yav 3y ago
  To be fair to the journalist who wrote the linked article, they showed the spike and years previous to covid.
- c048 3y ago
  Outrage sells. While some might include pre-covid statistics, the vast majority won't.
  - zztop44 3y ago
    Yet this one does.
- passwordoops 3y ago
  I think it's less about journalists being sensational and more the nature of business reporting (in the journalistic and financial sense) that everything must be compared quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year
- robertlagrant 3y ago
  > I see this in other reporting as well. "Massive drop in X" or similar, when reality is it's returning to pre-Covid levels. Should it not be reported on, when the rise was reported on? It is a massive, newsworthy, drop and one of the side-effects of Covid wasn't "may increase dealmaking", so it shouldn't be assumed to recede alonside Covid.
  - magicalhippo 3y ago
    Feel it's more about how the stories are angled. So often it seems phrased like things during Covid was the norm, rather than things returning to normal.
  - _heimdall 3y ago
    One of the side effects of printing $4T+ in new money is an increase in dealmaking. Most of the new money was poured into the top of the system and it had to go some where, investors threw much of it towards the tech industry as it seemed they could at least keep working and where potentially building businesses that would boom during such a massive a pandemic response. The recent drop in dealmaking is important and newsworthy. I think the point being made above was simply that reporting seems to ignore the context of how this year's investing compares to 2019 before the massive influx of inflationary cash rolled in.
- TomK32 3y ago
  Thus the interesting question a journalist should research would be: Why did spike during the Covid years happen?
  - shortrounddev2 3y ago
    Federal reserve
- _heimdall 3y ago
  > Almost like journalists collectively forgot how the world was before Covid. Well that tracks, journalists also seem to have collectively forgotten what the world was like during Covid too. Most journalism today is way too focused on what's right in front of them that can give the most sensationalist headlines. Context doesn't really matter when its all about clicks and engagement.
  - sigmoid10 3y ago
    Well, the fact that this stuff still makes it to the front page of hacker news and generates this very discussion right here proves them right. After all, media is not about providing information. It's a business to generate income by grabbing your attention.
    - throwaway0665 3y ago
      Especially when it's a blog post by the marketing team of a private company
    - jollofricepeas 3y ago
      This. I agree. The HN community largely likes to criticize media but fundamentally they don’t understand it. “The media is a business to generate income by grabbing attention” This has always been true. Media has been sensationalist since it first started as word of mouth being spread by sailors and politicized as directed by government and business interests. Once adopted by business interests, it has been forced to reach as many eyeballs as possible in order to be profitable. Read the histories of journalism, Pulitzer, Hearst, the Spanish American War and other examples. Freedom of the press is the most important thing and libel /defamation laws are what’s important. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
      - _heimdall 3y ago
        This situation is media is nothing new, but its drastically amplified by digital media platforms. When journalists could spent weeks or months on a major piece and publish it in a newspaper they didn't have constant, immediate feedback. At best they could look at paper sales and industry recognition. Today journalists see very quickly what lands and what doesn't. They can even A/B test headlines to game attention. The shorter feedback loop can also easily lead to a focus on what one can publish today to get shares and likes, losing much of the integrity that may likely have been on the table when the work stands on its own and you can't immediately watch analytics as soon as its published.
- eduction 3y ago
  The article includes a six year chart of total VC funding from 2018 to present that clearly shows the context of the COVID spike.
octacat 3y ago
Negative titles attract more attention, clicks and more money from ads.

More like: After a two-year spike in the number of active investors in US VC it returns to 2020 levels.

by TomK32 3y ago

More like: After a two-year spike in the number of active investors in US VC it returns to 2020 levels.

I see this in other reporting as well. "Massive drop in X" or similar, when reality is it's returning to pre-Covid levels. Almost like journalists collectively forgot how the world was before Covid.

j4yav 3y ago
To be fair to the journalist who wrote the linked article, they showed the spike and years previous to covid.
c048 3y ago
Outrage sells. While some might include pre-covid statistics, the vast majority won't.
- zztop44 3y ago
  Yet this one does.
passwordoops 3y ago
I think it's less about journalists being sensational and more the nature of business reporting (in the journalistic and financial sense) that everything must be compared quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year
robertlagrant 3y ago
> I see this in other reporting as well. "Massive drop in X" or similar, when reality is it's returning to pre-Covid levels. Should it not be reported on, when the rise was reported on? It is a massive, newsworthy, drop and one of the side-effects of Covid wasn't "may increase dealmaking", so it shouldn't be assumed to recede alonside Covid.
- magicalhippo 3y ago
  Feel it's more about how the stories are angled. So often it seems phrased like things during Covid was the norm, rather than things returning to normal.
- _heimdall 3y ago
  One of the side effects of printing $4T+ in new money is an increase in dealmaking. Most of the new money was poured into the top of the system and it had to go some where, investors threw much of it towards the tech industry as it seemed they could at least keep working and where potentially building businesses that would boom during such a massive a pandemic response. The recent drop in dealmaking is important and newsworthy. I think the point being made above was simply that reporting seems to ignore the context of how this year's investing compares to 2019 before the massive influx of inflationary cash rolled in.
TomK32 3y ago
Thus the interesting question a journalist should research would be: Why did spike during the Covid years happen?
- shortrounddev2 3y ago
  Federal reserve
_heimdall 3y ago
> Almost like journalists collectively forgot how the world was before Covid. Well that tracks, journalists also seem to have collectively forgotten what the world was like during Covid too. Most journalism today is way too focused on what's right in front of them that can give the most sensationalist headlines. Context doesn't really matter when its all about clicks and engagement.
- sigmoid10 3y ago
  Well, the fact that this stuff still makes it to the front page of hacker news and generates this very discussion right here proves them right. After all, media is not about providing information. It's a business to generate income by grabbing your attention.
  - throwaway0665 3y ago
    Especially when it's a blog post by the marketing team of a private company
  - jollofricepeas 3y ago
    This. I agree. The HN community largely likes to criticize media but fundamentally they don’t understand it. “The media is a business to generate income by grabbing attention” This has always been true. Media has been sensationalist since it first started as word of mouth being spread by sailors and politicized as directed by government and business interests. Once adopted by business interests, it has been forced to reach as many eyeballs as possible in order to be profitable. Read the histories of journalism, Pulitzer, Hearst, the Spanish American War and other examples. Freedom of the press is the most important thing and libel /defamation laws are what’s important. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
    - _heimdall 3y ago
      This situation is media is nothing new, but its drastically amplified by digital media platforms. When journalists could spent weeks or months on a major piece and publish it in a newspaper they didn't have constant, immediate feedback. At best they could look at paper sales and industry recognition. Today journalists see very quickly what lands and what doesn't. They can even A/B test headlines to game attention. The shorter feedback loop can also easily lead to a focus on what one can publish today to get shares and likes, losing much of the integrity that may likely have been on the table when the work stands on its own and you can't immediately watch analytics as soon as its published.
eduction 3y ago
The article includes a six year chart of total VC funding from 2018 to present that clearly shows the context of the COVID spike.

octacat 3y ago

Negative titles attract more attention, clicks and more money from ads.