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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student Ashland firefighters cook for seniors at Thanksgiving feast Helicopter officials admits he falsified data Two-alarm fire damages Ashland home SOU Honors College team takes on Food Bank project Education Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student SOU Honors College team takes on Food Bank project Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Ashland High School: Students get schooled in interviewing Environment Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Navickas ordered to pay court filing fees Business Southern Oregon reports growth in lodging industry Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda CR-V Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Find your holiday spirit in Ashland’s Season of Celebration Politics and elections Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls Oregon voters narrowly reject GMO labeling measure Kitzhaber wins fourth term Merkley wins re-election by wide margin State News GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Stephen A. Read Death Notices Death Notices Death Notices Robert E. Johnson Sports Latest Stories Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout High school Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Georgia Williams commits to Columbia Gabe Lehrburger, Grizzlies clean house in MWL all-star voting Southern Oregon University Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout Opinion Latest Stories Granlund cartoon: Hagel steps down Granlund cartoon: Thanksgiving and shopping Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Frank Mulligan: They say fame is fleeting Editorial Our view: Keep it simple in OSF courtyard Our view: Expanding the season Our View: Our view: Generating a good idea Our View: Looking beyond the snow Letters Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 15 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 11 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 10 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 3 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Guest Opinion: Save the SOU swimming pool Chris Honoré: Was the midterm election a mandate? Herb Rothschild: TPP agreement draws opposition from all sides Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Oregon Poetry Association's fall contest winners Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Nov. 20-28 Caleb Klauder Band and The Steel Wheels play the Unitarian Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Theater New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Bass Clarinet Takeover Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Movie review: ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stays true to form Interview: Jennifer Aniston continues to shed good-girl image Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Interview: Steve Carell gets grim Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories ROGUES: Tales from the Valley: Sherry and Dawn prepare for a psychodrama weekend Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student Dave Ramsey: Money comes in the wrong half of the month Dr. Elaine Heffner: Big changes in little kids Food for Thought: Add new twists on Thanksgiving favorites Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Ashland Calendar, Nov. 25 ... GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount ... Helicopter officials admits he falsified data ... Ashland Calendar, Nov. 25 ... GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount ... Helicopter officials admits he falsified data ... Michelle Teheux: An editor tried to write a column, then this happened By Michelle Teheux More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Michelle Teheux More Content Now Posted Nov. 12, 2014 @ 10:49 am By Michelle Teheux More Content Now Posted Nov. 12, 2014 @ 10:49 am » Social News Don’t you just love “clickbait”? The stuff on the Internet that is designed to make you click and click and click, thus generating lots of pageviews, and thus higher advertising revenue? Who hasn’t been sucked in by these things, and greatly disappointed by them? I repeatedly vow not to click on that garbage anymore, but occasionally a headline is just too darned provocative to resist. It makes me wonder why we at newspapers don’t just start doing the same thing. Old headline: “Council passes tax increase.” New headline: “Council passes four ordinances. No. 3 will blow your mind.” Old headline: “New steak house opens downtown.” New headline: “A local man decided to open a business. Then this happened.” Old headline: “Man arrested for meth.” New headline: “A man makes meth. You won’t believe what the judge does next.” You get the idea. We also need to step up our photo game. Currently, we choose photographs for their news value, regardless of how attractive the people involved in news stories or local events might be. Surely we could start specifying we want people to be a little more fashionable, and maybe posing a little more flirtatiously. I’m talking about you, board members, newsmakers and local officials. Maybe you should spiff up your wardrobes. We’ve got papers to sell. In truth, most journalists would rather go with the old headlines, and we like taking pictures of truth rather than a glorified version of it. We do, in fact, know we could sell more papers by doing what every other medium does. We could move up stories with less news value but more shock value. We could pander to advertisers. We could worry more about popularity and less about uncomfortable truths. Come now. Would you rather read about how the work on the sewers is going, even knowing it’s going to affect your pocketbook, or just gaze at some very cute kittens? And yet, we at newspapers so seldom choose kittens over the wastewater treatment plant project. It’s as if we are blind to economic realities. Or have higher priorities. It’s a little bit like the difference between what McDonald’s feeds you versus what your mother would feed you. The fast-food restaurant industry is well aware that you love fatty, salty, sugary, starchy stuff, and isn’t shy about packaging all these components into new and improved shapes with appealing names. Your mom knew full well how much you loved all the bad stuff, but she likely persisted in serving green leafy vegetables and other things you didn’t necessarily scarf down as enthusiastically as you’d have gone after a burger and a bowl of ice cream. It’s almost as if she cared more about giving you what you needed than what you wanted. The newspaper business is the only business I can think of that persists in giving its customers what it believes they need rather than what they might prefer. Then we get phone calls from customers angry that their kid’s arrest is in the paper and are accused of choosing what to print “just to sell papers.” Let me tell you, if we only wanted to sell papers, we’d find more provocative things to print than that. And yet we don’t. We persist in doing our best to figure out what it’s most important to present so local residents can be informed of what’s going on in their community. We know that some of you appreciate it. For the rest of you, there’s always clickbait to enjoy instead. Michelle Teheux may be reached at [email protected]. By Michelle Teheux More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Michelle Teheux More Content Now Posted Nov. 12, 2014 @ 10:49 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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