"Deceptive" clickbait headlines

Relevance, intentions, and lies

Bibliographic Data

ID3270796
AuthorsKate Scott (0000-0002-3431-7554, Kingston University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume218
Pages71-82
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Pragmatics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0378-2166 • E-ISSN: 1879-1387
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.pragma.2023.10.004
OpenAlexW4387834843
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited22

Classic clickbait headlines often use hyperbolic and formulaic language to create information gaps that arouse the curiosity of readers. Such headlines are stylistically distinct from the headlines we find in traditional news media, and, as such, are easily recognisable as clickbait. However, a new type of clickbait headline has emerged which appears to have more in common stylistically with traditional newspaper headlines. Jodłowiec (2022) identifies and discusses examples of this new type of headline, referring to them as "deceptive clickbait". She uses relevance-theoretic pragmatics to show how these headlines guide the readers to an interpretation which arouses their curiosity. On clicking, however, the readers find the content is mundane and trivial. Although these headlines are deceptive, Jodłowiec concludes that the writer has not lied, and that responsibility sits with the readers. In this article, I argue against these conclusions. I use relevance-theoretic pragmatics to show that the reader is entitled to take the high news value interpretation as the intended interpretation. Responsibility for this lies with the writer. I then consider two characterisations of the distinction between lying and misleading and show that in both cases at least some of the deceptive headlines can be considered to be lies

Curiosity · Headline · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Media studies · Newspaper · Political science · Pragmatics · Reading (process · Relevance (law · Relevance theory · Sociology · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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