As someone who has spent more than 20 years as a journalist, I see the terms "clickbait" and "fake news" frequently fill comment lines linked to stories written by those in the media. I've gotten to know the readers of southern Idaho very well since moving to the area in 2016, and I've witnessed firsthand how much sensationalized content for the sake of page views aggravates lower Gem State residents.

Full disclosure. I've been guilty of publishing content that is considered clickbait to the general public a time or two. Being a media contributor is a cutthroat existence, meaning that if you're not producing numbers in the form of shares, comments, and page views, you're not going to last very long. I dropped this style of writing years ago after realizing I didn't need to try to mislead people to get them to read my stuff.

There's nothing worse than a lazy journalist, unless, of course, a writer takes advantage of someone's suffering to pursue a bonus check and pats on the back from co-workers.

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I've discovered that honesty, showcasing creativity in your writing, relating to the locals as best you can, and not spewing out the same, tired, subject matter year after year works well for me. There's nothing worse than a lazy journalist, unless, of course, a writer takes advantage of someone's suffering to pursue a bonus check and pats on the back from co-workers. These are the times we're living in and this is the direction journalism took when social media exploded 20 years ago.

What apps that share state or local content have you deleted recently because you grew tired of what you believe to be clickbait? 

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