Journalists Don't Look At Traffic Numbers

http://blog.hubspot.com/opinion/journalists-dont-look-at-traffic-numbers

by jhonovich • 12 years ago

2 3 12 years ago

blog.hubspot.com

jhonovich• 12 years ago

I find this attitude bizarre. How can they know what their audience is interested in or not?

I agree that writing silly thinks like "Top 5 Cute Cats That Are Friends With Justin Bieber" to get traffic is absurd, but you need to know where your readers are most interested among genuine topics of interest.

sp332• 12 years ago

Why do they care what the audience is interested in? The Verge writers get to write about what they think is interesting. It's their site, after all.

Anyway, they didn't say no one looks at the numbers. A leader could still direct the journalists to cover certain topics without turning them into traffic whores.

orlandob• 12 years ago

I've been listening to a relevant audiobook lately: Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday.

In it, he speaks about his role in manipulating the smaller blogs with over-the-top stories (read: PR stunts), which are then "traded up the chain", used as sources for larger blogs, eventually making their way to the national media.

Journalists Don't Look At Traffic Numbers

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