Newsy Radio Hype

Have you noticed how a headline on the radio in the morning turns into a riot by the afternoon?

It begins with slightly loaded comments from presenters about one of the daily headlines. To encourage interaction from listeners, I guess.

The headline is then linked into phone-ins, showcasing the country's engagement. So by mid-morning the newsreader's script is already edited to something more provocative, on the grounds that collective opinion has now become near fact.

But not quite...

Further newsy discussions pursue, with more somewhat one-sided opinions, as further script editing ensues and, the fear in human psychology to call out anything different, drowns out any opposition to the edited version of the original headline.

By the afternoon, perhaps different listeners have gathered. So, only hearing the fully edited headline that has now switched to an emphatic factual statement, people are suddenly enraged.

The radio is then awash with very angry people!

And I find myself caught up in it all...

A headline doesn't need to morph into an SEO frenzy, optimised to heighten agitation.

It's annoying!