Millions Die From Not Reading

I hope I haven't caused mass hysteria.

I hope I haven't sent dozens of people scrambling to their nearest bookstore to purchase books and avoid certain death.

Okay, that second one isn't entirely true. If you own a bookstore and notice a spike in sales, you're welcome.

Seriously, though, I do hope you read the headline for this article and clicked on it to find out what on earth I was writing about. (I'll know how many of you did when I check my view count.)

With that little headline up there, I intended to spark enough interest to get people to open the article and read it.

Why?

Because I want to inform. I want to entertain. I want the ego boost I get when I see a high view count for an article.

The media wants the same things I do.

Ever since the invention of the newspaper, headlines have been written to spark interest. The more sensational the headline, the more likely people were to buy the paper. This meant the paper made money, reporters had jobs, and the public stayed informed.

I'm sure some people read the headline at the newsstand and went on about their day, spreading what little information they got from those few words. No doubt, some of that information was incorrect. But enough people bought the paper and actually read the news to keep misinformation from spreading.

Fast forward to today. Tons of media outlets are vying for our attention. They want our clicks. Clicks mean advertisers, advertisers mean money for the media outlet, which in turn means reporters have jobs and the public stays informed.

Nothing has changed. So why all this hating on the media? 

The headline might say, "Death toll due to coronavirus climbs." This doesn't mean the media is trying to incite panic. It means they are trying to get you to click on the article and actually read about which demographic is most impacted by COVID-19 and how you can protect yourself.

"Death toll due to coronavirus climbs" is going to get a lot more clicks than "How to protect yourself, the elderly, and immune-compromised people from COVID-19 by taking simple hygiene precautions."

Or at least, it should.

Unfortunately, it's far easier for us to glance at headlines, draw conclusions, and spread misinformation than it is for us to take a few more minutes to click on the article link, read the article, and then analyze the information for comprehension. 

To make matters worse, the internet is forever. This means out-of-date information can easily be taken as current fact, simply because someone shares an article link without checking the publication date first.

It's not the media's fault if people draw conclusions based on headlines designed to encourage further reading.

It's the fault of people who fail to take the time to read, analyze, and comprehend.

I hope I haven't caused mass hysteria.

I hope you inoculate yourself by reading.