The mainstream media has a duty to report facts not post questionable images for click bait (you will not see said image here)

It's been a while since I've written an article here, however yesterday the inspiration struck me while I was reading the mainstream media.

I don't want to go into too many details here, but 30 year old rugby player, Sonny Bill Williams posted a graphic photo of him undergoing the cupping medical treatment on social media.

The image was picked up by the mainstream media (which you can find if you do a Google search but as I don't find the image to be in good taste I am not going to link to it).

There is a line between reporting the facts:

- Sonny Bill Williams likes the cupping treatment.
- The cupping treatment is a medical treatment whereby people have their blood "sucked" in cups to rid it off the toxins.
- How long the cupping technique has been around.
- What the effects of it are.

And oversharing/crossing the line into indecency.

The mainstream media crossed that line by posting the image on their homepages (Daily Mail, News.com.au, NZ Herald).  It had no place there as it didn't give the reader the choice as to whether or not they would view an image they may find offensive and it did not add to the story.

It is the mainstream media's job to report the facts, but it is not their job to cross boundaries and report disgusting facts just to get click bait.

That is not what news is about.

News isn't sexy and it isn't supposed to be.  It is supposed to be informative.

Sadly that view isn't widely held, with News Corp announcing 55 editorial positions to be axed this across Australia.

Cost cutting may be essential because companies aren't spending in advertising but have the managers ever wondered why that is?  Why would companies spend money on advertising when people aren't reading the news as much?  And why would people read the news when the quality is on the constant decline?  In order to deliver quality organisations have to have quality staff, and that won't always mean sexy stories about the latest medical fad or posting questionable images that people have no desire to see.

Posting questionable images and cutting editorial staff is the fastest way to kill journalism and lose your advertisers.