Headline writers naturally love big numbers. A story flagged with 鈥�300,000 march for justice鈥� grabs more attention than 鈥�12聽rally downtown to protest mask requirements.鈥�
Add in a bit of gore, lurid detail and shock value, and a sensational headline practically writes itself.
And with news media of all sorts seeking to maximize 颅ad-click revenue from their online platforms, the race towards clickbait can be 颅tempting. Even 鈥渟erious鈥� news outlets can鈥檛 always resist the drive to hook and land readers鈥� eyes on online ads.
So it鈥檚 not surprising that the recent heat wave in sa国际传媒 has resulted in a crop of 颅colourfully worded internet candy. In particular, a University of British Columbia marine biologist鈥檚 report of heat-killed and rotting shellfish on Vancouver鈥檚 Kits Beach was a headline writer鈥檚 dream. It was, it could be said, a news gourmand鈥檚 story dished up, garnished and served up in all its reeking glory on a platter.
With a story like that, how could you not leverage all of the inherent shock, horror, disgust and key words to hook and land readers?
Even the CBC got into the action, with 鈥淢ore than a 颅billion seashore animals may have cooked to death in sa国际传媒 heat wave, says UBC researcher.鈥� The word 鈥渂illion鈥� alone would have snagged attention, but 鈥渃ooked to death鈥� nailed it. Referring to the researcher and the university kept it real, in effect saying 鈥渨e鈥檙e not making this stuff up.鈥�
In the days after the story broke, tracking how 颅different news outlets added their own headline touches helped to leaven the dire news of the heat wave鈥檚 consequences. By changing this or that word, they de-emphasized and super-emphasized this or that. It also made the headlines their own, differentiating each from the other, almost identical billings.
鈥淐rushing heat wave cooked shellfish alive鈥濃��. 鈥淓xtreme heatwave baked sea creatures in their shells鈥濃��. 鈥淎聽Billion 颅Seashore Animals Cooked Alive鈥濃��. 鈥淗eat Wave Is 颅Broiling Billions of Marine Animals Alive鈥濃��. 鈥�1 Billion Sea 颅Creatures Cooked to Death鈥濃��.
This small sample takes us from 鈥渃ooked to death鈥� to 鈥渃ooked alive鈥� and from cooked to baked to broiled. It鈥檚 not just a heat wave or even an 鈥渆xtreme heat wave,鈥� it鈥檚 a 鈥渃rushing鈥� heat wave.
For those with fond 颅memories of high school English, the hard 鈥渒鈥� sounds of 鈥渃rushing鈥� and 鈥渃ooked鈥� resonates with an appropriate consonance, recalling the sounds made when empty clam shells clack and clatter on your plate or when you crack open a crab claw.
And why not take your lobster crackers and crab picks to pick the headline content apart too? 鈥淐ooked Alive鈥�? 鈥淏aking 鈥� in their shells鈥�? Ah, now this is only shocking when Mother Nature is the chef. When we鈥檙e the ones doing the cooking, it鈥檚 expected. If you go down to 颅Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf and buy mussels, clams or oysters to cook at home, you鈥檙e buying living creatures, and yes, you鈥檒l be cooking them alive, in their shells. The requirement to drop live 颅lobsters and crabs into boiling salt water to cook them keeps many home cooks from considering them for dinner.
Now contrast the breathless banners with the Washington Post鈥檚 staid and measured 鈥淗eat wave killed marine wildlife en masse.鈥� Here鈥檚 a news brand that spurned the free platter of flash-fried 颅sensationalism. They鈥檝e sent it back to the kitchen with a 鈥淣o, thanks. We鈥檒l have the prime rib instead,鈥� 颅taking no chances with 颅norovirus, red tide, vibrio, or accusations of overstated melodrama from miss-cooked and badly refrigerated shellfish.
Or maybe they considered all the headlines already published and opted to differentiate themselves by tone instead of by choice of adjectives.
Not that the recent heat didn鈥檛 hammer other foods or most other plants and critters in sa国际传媒 Tragically, hundreds of people died. Pets perished. Chicken farmers spent the heat wave trying to cool barns to prevent their birds from dying, while dairy farmers scrambled to keep their cows as hydrated and cool as possible.
Wildlife rescue organizations took in dozens of animals, mainly juvenile birds of prey. Chilliwack鈥檚 Reptile Room reported the loss of hundreds of rodents and at least two snakes and eight geckos. Blueberry, raspberry and tree-fruit crops suffered 鈥� yet another financial hit for the province鈥檚 farmers. Forests and one community burned, with all the attendant tragic outcomes.
But other than an occasional headline referencing tree fruits being 鈥渃ooked on the branch,鈥� those stories didn鈥檛 tend to generate the same headline excesses.
