Manchester-based LadBible and UNILAD have announced that they won’t be chasing clicks on coronavirus.
The publishers have announced a new campaign, Cutting Through, where they say they will only use “facts and stories from the people who are either qualified to comment or have experienced first-hand the situation we’re facing.”
Editor, Simon Binns stated:
“The coronavirus is a serious issue – and one which impacts upon us all as a global community. In times such as these, we instinctively wonder if ourselves or our loved ones could be the next affected.
“But that desire for information often leads to panic. Worse, it can be heightened by fake news and deliberate misinformation by those with an agenda, or just a twisted sense of mischief.
“The pursuit of clicks and views on social media tend to be driven by that human interest and behaviour, rather than by cold objectivity. The type of articles that the media produce are done so because the audience consumes them in huge volume. It becomes a self-fulfilling cycle. Write more about that subject because the audience wants to read about it.
“We recognise that we are a big part of that industry.”
Binns added that their responsibility was to “cut through the noise and zero in on the facts.”
“With great social power comes great social responsibility. And we wouldn’t be doing right by our audience if we allowed ourselves to get drawn into it just for the numbers of clicks on offer.”
LadBible acquired Unilad in 2018.
