# Tired of "news" articles based on tweets

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 21, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180 "2019-12-21T14:58:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/1 "2019-12-21T14:58:44Z")

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Seems that every day I see an article that starts with something like:

Twitter erupts!  
Twitter goes wild!  
Twitter reacts!

I guess news people are so lazy now they need their “news” handed to them.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/2 "2019-12-21T15:04:04Z")

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Of course some news stories are going to be based on tweets, when Trump is making new policy and commenting on events via tweet.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/3 "2019-12-21T15:11:25Z")

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yes but many of the articles have nothing to do with Trump

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**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/4 "2019-12-21T15:15:55Z")

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Low cost journalism. It doesn’t get any cheaper or lazier.

j

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/5 "2019-12-21T15:17:27Z")

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And then there are the news articles based on reddit threads . . .

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**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/6 "2019-12-21T15:38:48Z")

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What news outlets are doing so many articles entirely predicated on Twitter that it would make one “tired” ? I sometimes see a reference to Twitter to indicate public reactions to things, but it’s not that often that I see an article solely based on Twitter.

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**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/7 "2019-12-21T16:53:13Z")

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I agree.

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/8 "2019-12-21T17:47:01Z")

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> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> Seems that every day I see an article that starts with something like:
> 
> Twitter erupts!  
> Twitter goes wild!  
> Twitter reacts!

Yes. And conclusions tend to be drawn about half a dozen tweets (or comment section comments) as if they represent a large movement.

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**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/9 "2019-12-23T05:17:25Z")

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What particularly pisses me off is the “twitter is outraged” articles that base it on tweets from three random assholes on the internet.

ANYTHING, no matter how innocuous, that someone notable does is going cause at least a few people to bitch and moan.

It is little more than clickbait to find the three whiners out of the boatloads saying “good on ya,” and make up a story that there is some outrage there.

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/10 "2019-12-23T08:07:47Z")

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> [@guizot](#):
>
> What news outlets are doing so many articles entirely predicated on Twitter that it would make one “tired” ? I sometimes see a reference to Twitter to indicate public reactions to things, but it’s not that often that I see an article solely based on Twitter.

What I see a lot on certain news sites is stories that consist of little more than a brief summary paragraph summarizing a bunch of tweets, followed by quotes of a whole bunch of tweets. So there’s hardly any article at all “based on” tweets, but rather an article that mostly consists of just a bunch of tweets.

Raw Story does this a lot. I don’t think they’re the only ones.

Raw Story is also big on the outrage headlines. Just a few samples from what’s there right now:

– John Bolton nails Trump for screwing up North Korea nuclear treaty  
– MSNBC panel goes scorched earth on ‘ridiculous’ Tulsi Gabbard for impeachment non-vote that drew Trump praise  
– Lindsey Graham screeches at Nancy Pelosi: ‘Impeachment is a dead cat — stop playing with it’  
– WATCH: Democrat-turned-Republican Jeff Van Drew slobbers all over Fox Business host before praising Trump  
– ‘You’re not a good person’: Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets raked over the coals for mocking Joe Biden’s stutter

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/11 "2019-12-23T08:21:59Z")

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Personally I am a big fan of the “articles” that feature both graphics of the actual tweets and then the exact same content in quotes in the body.

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**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-news-articles-based-on-tweets/845180/12 "2019-12-23T09:35:34Z")

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> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> Personally I am a big fan of the “articles” that feature both graphics of the actual tweets and then the exact same content in quotes in the body.

But, see… the second part makes it journalism!
