We’ve all got a voice but some are used disproportionately!
This is a tactic used more and more by the media, to create something out of nothing about some photos they’ve seen, make a negative out of a positive, or use one fans opinion to make a headline
It's more often than not a bit of lazy reporting where a journalist simply goes down someone’s Instagram or Twitter feed and finds a Troll / Snowflake with a strong or controversial opinion that they know will create a headline and get people reading. Some classic examples include…
1: Create Something out of Nothing…. “Kylie Jenner sparks pregnancy rumours” https://goo.gl/mRDdRD
Implies: ‘Kylie has said something and hinted that another one is on the way’
The Reality: The prolific poster and famous Kardashian / Jenner family member had categorically stated she was “definitely not ready” for more kids in numerous previous stories and was in a rocky relationship where cheating rumours were rife.
So, when she posted a cute picture of her baby Stormi laying on her with the caption “My baby is stuck to me like glue lately” to her 130m Instagram followers the tabloids were desperate for a story, where there wasn’t one. Reading down the thousands of comments they managed to find ONE PERSON who said “that’s what happens when you are pregnant” and voila they managed to ‘Create Something out of Nothing’ to make a headline
2: Make a Negative out of a Positive…. “Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson gets heat, for calling 'sexy' tank named after him an 'honour'” https://goo.gl/qVUWyY
Implies: ‘The Rock has a tank fetish and loves WMD’s and the Press are calling him out on it.’
The Reality: The US 1st Armoured Division named one of their tanks after him and posted on Twitter about it. He read the post and basically said thanks for the honour but more importantly thank you for the work that you do keeping us safe. Which was a very credible and respectful way to thank and support the troops back.
However, of his 13m followers and thousands that read his reply a snowflake took umbrage and commented “Not sure having a destructive weapon named after you is such a great honour."
So, the tabloid knew saying he was supporting the troops wasn’t a big headline so ‘made a negative out of a positive’ on one person’s opinion to make a story
3: One Fans Opinion to make a Headline…. “Avengers Endgame leaks reveal HORRIBLE Tony Stark fate: Fans will be furious” https://goo.gl/btYA4y
Implies: ‘Iron Man is going to die, I’m gonna be really annoyed about it.’
The Reality: Firstly, don’t fall for the #ClickBait headline https://goo.gl/MKzwy6 that is obviously worded to get you clicking. Secondly a firm favourite of the tabloids is to go through Reddit or specific fan sites and pull up one person’s theory (normally based on their understanding of the source material for a film) to create a captivating headline that will get people reading.
A casual look over www.LetsCallBull.com shows dozens of fans opinions about the same film https://goo.gl/cjBDg7 and each of them used to make a headline that, in truth, reveals no more about the film than you already knew but are engineered to steal your time and clicks
So there you have it, 3 examples of how one Troll, Hater or Fanboy (Fangirl or Fanperson?) is used by a lazy reporter to try and get people stirred up to read an article whilst completely neglecting the majority opinion.... because that wouldn’t make such a great headline!
