To think journalists just got even lazier?

[Greyrootszerohoots]

Has anyone noticed a sudden flurry of mumsnet based news articles? And I’m not just talking DM.

I get so many pop up in my newsfeed and think ‘hang on, I read that the other day on AIBU’.

Imagine being the poor sod trawling mumsnet to make a deadline for a click-bait article.

YANBU. I had exactly the same thought earlier.

I'm more cross that HQ allow it, in fact they love it as it's free advertising for the site. I think it's a real shitty thing to do.

Poor sod? Getting paid to 'trawl through mumsnet'? Easy money

Yes I spotted at least two this week - one about a kitchen being ripped out by new owners when sellers were still packing up - can’t remember the other one.....

I think it would be good for MNHQ to share a log because it would indicate what sort of stuff is being picked up so posters were wary about posting specific details. I also wonder how the OP from the original thread copes as I would be mortified to end up in the national press.

Yes I would be mortified too. I suppose the chance of getting outed increases dramatically. I also wondered if mumsnet are the ones selling the stories 🤔

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

I'm more cross that HQ allow it, in fact they love it as it's free advertising for the site. I think it's a real shitty thing to do.

But this is a public forum, so HQ can't do anything about it as the information is already freely available. I do think people need to be mindful of that as it's easy to think of MN as somewhere that is a safe space to pour your heart out or ask for help with some really delicate situations, which I understand, but the forum is actually just an openly available site for anyone to read and share.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

I'm more cross that HQ allow it, in fact they love it as it's free advertising for the site. I think it's a real shitty thing to do.

Yes, its going to make people think twice now before posting anything.

I also think this just encourages more “cool story bro” type threads.

you consider someone creating a click bait article a journalist?

@Greyrootszerohoots

Yes I would be mortified too. I suppose the chance of getting outed increases dramatically. I also wondered if mumsnet are the ones selling the stories 🤔

Why would anyone pay for content that is free, journalists may be lazy but they aren't stupid

I've noticed more threads about threads appearing in other places than I've ever seen it happen

When you say newsfeed what exactly is that? Is it something you have to sign up to?

Sadly this is nothing new. It's been happening for years. MNHQ might not be able to do anything about it but I doubt they'd want to anyway, it's free advertising and traffic they wouldn't have otherwise got.

MN are upping their advertising. My app now has ads, where it hasn't for years, and there's also a share button, but no filter for op posts, a like button or an edit feature, so that shows where there priorities are imo, advertising, not making its user experience better 🤷‍♀️

@Greyrootszerohoots

Yes I would be mortified too. I suppose the chance of getting outed increases dramatically. I also wondered if mumsnet are the ones selling the stories 🤔

Careful op, that's the sort of talk that gets your account shut down by mnhq.

It's a public forum. Mumsnet don't sell stories they are there for the taking. Surley anyone posting here knows it could end up anywhere?. I don't live in the UK & one of the talk shows here frequently has Mumsnet threads as a talkng point.

Mumsnet and sites like it, like reddit, are full of interesting issues and life dilemmas, which is where they cross over with new sites, Not sure how you can stop that happening

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

I'm more cross that HQ allow it, in fact they love it as it's free advertising for the site. I think it's a real shitty thing to do.

How do you suggest they stop it?

I have noticed this but also, more generally the standard of SPAG in my local paper is terrible. Yesterday, they did a follow-up story on a ‘grizzly’ discovery in an abandoned hotel 🙄.

Name changed for this. I used to be a journalist (although didn't have to trawl Mumsnet).

1. Journalists are far from "lazy"...most work long hours for low pay, demanding editors, under constant deadline pressure and abuse from the public. Just because journos sometimes use Mumsnet threads doesn't mean that's all they do all day, every day. One moment I was doing a light hearted clickbait article, the next I was at a major crime scene or reporting on a complex court case, or investigating council corruption.

It's definitely not "easy money" .

1. Why would you be mortified if your thread ended up in the press, when you've already posted on a public forum accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. In fact MN probably has a bigger readership than most newspapers nowadays.

3.The reason standards are slipping is because fewer and fewer people buy print newspapers, while expecting the online content to be free (while sneering at the "lazy journalists" who still have to make a living).
This has lead to mass redundancies and most newsrooms are now running on skeleton staff.

All of the above is why I left the profession. One of the upsides is no longer having to deal with complaints from people who don't understand that the Internet is public.

I'm a TV journalist. It horrifies me to see how newspapers behave.

I have had to deal with so many sensitive situations and I am so, so careful when speaking to people in distress.

I always ensure they are in control of their exposure. Many of them want to talk to us but every step of the way I'm checking what they are comfortable to share.

Please don't lump all journalists together.

And yes it is on a public forum but I think there's a tacit understanding that you're speaking to a different audience and in a different context on here compared to seeing it in a national newspaper.

@NCjourno Ha. The number of times TV stations take stories word for word from newspapers, for their own websites, without crediting the reporter. Or show up at crime scenes and start filming without a word of warning.
Newspaper journalists are sensitive to people in distressing situations when interviewing them too. That's not what the thread's about though.

To those suggesting MN is selling the stories, that doesn't make any sense because it's a public forum where all the information is freely available. There's nothing for them to sell.

They could contact a journalist and suggest they check out a particular thread but they couldn't 'sell' the story as it's all publicly available.

As I said upthread, people forget sometimes that when they post on MN they are sharing a whatever they post with the internet. Anyone, anywhere can read and share their posts.

It's something people need to take individual responsibility for and one of the reasons people sometimes change a few details, or name change before a particularly sensitive post so it isn't easy to connect them to previous ones.

Posting something on MN makes it public. Everyone needs to remember that.

@3Britnee

MN are upping their advertising. My app now has ads, where it hasn't for years, and there's also a share button, but no filter for op posts, a like button or an edit feature, so that shows where there priorities are imo, advertising, not making its user experience better 🤷‍♀️

The app has always had adverts (or for ages at least) and there's been a filter button for a while. What platform are you using?!

I thought this was going to be about AI. I’m sure some papers are using this now as some articles just don’t read quite right. I wonder if we’ll get to the point AI crawls for stories this way!

It's not that they're lazy, it's that they're expected to write 10-12 articles per day, while earning about £120 per shift. If you don't meet your targets, you're out. A mumsnet post is an easy win and it means you might be able to steal back 15 minutes to eat a sandwich.