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authorbt <bt@btxx.org>2024-06-08 13:22:19 -0400
committerbt <bt@btxx.org>2024-06-08 13:22:19 -0400
commitdcfb172704f3afb68a30425029ec834be2883274 (patch)
tree02ac480745db802d7af03f3213a0c568322170e3 /build/news-websites-are-dumpster-fires
parente146f8a64c793c337999ce316b16ebe5fe6f2dab (diff)
More content porting, on-going markdown changes for lowdown support
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<!doctype html>
-<html lang="en" id="top">
+<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="icon" href="data:,">
<title>News Websites Are Dumpster Fires</title>
- <link href="https://bt.ht/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" />
- <style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{overflow:auto;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}</style>
+ <link href="/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" />
+ <link href="/rss.xml" type="application/rss+xml" rel="alternate" title="RSS feed for blog posts" />
+<style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1.33;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{border:1px solid;overflow:auto;padding:5px;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}.footnotes{font-size:90%;}</style>
</head>
<nav>
- <a href="#menu">Menu &darr;</a>
+ <a href="#menu">Menu &darr;</a>
</nav>
<main>
-<h1>News Websites Are Dumpster Fires</h1>
+<h1 id="news-websites-are-dumpster-fires">News Websites Are Dumpster Fires</h1>
+
<p>2019-05-29</p>
+
<p>Online news outlets are a dying breed and many users have decided to consume information elsewhere. Why? Because the news industry has become a cesspool of anti-consumer and blackhat practices that has eroded trust for the sake of money.</p>
-<h2>What news sites get wrong</h2>
+
+<h2 id="what-news-sites-get-wrong">What news sites get wrong</h2>
+
<p>I could write up an entire essay about all the shady practices that <em>most</em> news sites are guilty of, but here are just a few top level issues:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>Clickbait headings with misleading information</li>
<li>Disabling the user from reading if ad-block is present</li>
<li>Tracking the user with 3rd party scripts</li>
<li>Taking massive performance hits (specifically on mobile due to huge JavaScript blocks)</li>
<li>Pop-up ads</li>
-<li>Fixed headers or footers which leads to harder readability / accidental element interactions</li>
+<li>Fixed headers or footers which leads to harder readability &#47; accidental element interactions</li>
</ul>
-<h2>But they need ad revenue!</h2>
-<p>If your business is solely dependent on tracking scripts, tricking users with clickbait titles and using archaic ads - then you're destined to fail regardless. These practices create an unsafe and unhealthy web for everyday users - not to mention most browsers have announced that future updates <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/content-blocking">will be blocking ads by default</a>. <em>News outlets need to adapt or die</em>.</p>
-<h2>What's the solution?</h2>
-<p>I don't have a <em>fix all</em> band-aid to replace current revenue streams for news websites. I'm sure someone much smarter than I can come up with better ideas, but just off the top of my head:</p>
+
+<h2 id="but-they-need-ad-revenue">But they need ad revenue!</h2>
+
+<p>If your business is solely dependent on tracking scripts, tricking users with clickbait titles and using archaic ads - then you&#8217;re destined to fail regardless. These practices create an unsafe and unhealthy web for everyday users - not to mention most browsers have announced that future updates <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/content-blocking">will be blocking ads by default</a>. <em>News outlets need to adapt or die</em>.</p>
+
+<h2 id="whats-the-solution">What&#8217;s the solution?</h2>
+
+<p>I don&#8217;t have a <em>fix all</em> band-aid to replace current revenue streams for news websites. I&#8217;m sure someone much smarter than I can come up with better ideas, but just off the top of my head:</p>
+
<ul>
-<li>Switch over to a monthly subscription plan (if no one pays for it maybe you weren't as useful of a source as you thought)</li>
+<li>Switch over to a monthly subscription plan (if no one pays for it maybe you weren&#8217;t as useful of a source as you thought)</li>
<li>Partner with brands to create sponsored articles (without ruining the user experience of course)</li>
<li>Place a larger emphasis on user donations or promotions</li>
</ul>
-<h2>The News Shouldn't be Spam</h2>
+
+<h2 id="the-news-shouldnt-be-spam">The News Shouldn&#8217;t be Spam</h2>
+
<p>Most traffic flowing into news websites are there for one thing: <em>the content</em>. News outlets should not be spamming their main revenue supply (<strong>the users</strong>) or misleading people with false information.</p>
-<p>If you're a regular consumer of news and you happen to run across a platform that is guilty of any of these practices, shoot them an email explaining why you won't be returning to their website (unless they change their ways). These anti-consumer practices will only stop when these organizations start losing money.</p>
+
+<p>If you&#8217;re a regular consumer of news and you happen to run across a platform that is guilty of any of these practices, shoot them an email explaining why you won&#8217;t be returning to their website (unless they change their ways). These anti-consumer practices will only stop when these organizations start losing money.</p>
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