Clickbait should be keeping those of us responsible for managing organisational reputation wide awake at night. More importantly, we should be doing something about it – now.
Over the past few months, I’ve had more than a few clients ask me the same question: how do we deal with the rise of clickbait in mainstream media? Their concern is real, and the frustration is palpable. What once felt like an occasional irritation now feels like a global trend gathering momentum, driven by platform shifts and fundamental economic pressures.
Sadly, the examples speak for themselves.
Misleading headlines. Annual results of listed companies reported incorrectly – sometimes spectacularly so – with little appetite to address this. ‘News-adjacent’ platforms pumping out AI-generated copy that swings from sensationalist bait to outright disinformation. And increasingly, rage-baiting content designed to provoke rather than inform.
This isn’t just sloppy journalism or an unfortunate by-product of the digital news economy. The real cost is far more damaging: it’s the erosion of credibility itself. And once credibility goes, everything else follows.
The evidence: A global crisis of trust
While comprehensive global research on the prevalence of clickbait is limited, it’s estimated that around 30% of mainstream headlines globally could now be classified as clickbait, which undermines trust in the media. On tabloid-style and aggregator sites, especially those targeting social media traffic, this figure is probably higher. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, anecdotal evidence suggests rates are climbing above 40%.
The latest numbers published by the Reuters Institute provide some insight, at least. Globally, 58% of people believe misinformation remains a major concern in the news environment. In Africa, this grows to 73% (equal to the US). Of most concern, 32% (one third) of people believe that journalists are part of the problem.
In South Africa specifically, 41% of people say they “sometimes or often avoid the news,” matching the figure from 2024. These are among the highest levels globally. While globally, news avoidance has risen sharply, from 29% in 2017 to about 40% in 2025.
Understanding the cause: Platform economics and algorithm pressures
An accelerating shift towards consumption via social media and video platforms is diminishing the influence of ‘institutional journalism’ and supercharging a fragmented alternative media environment containing an array of new citizen-style journalists … podcasters, YouTubers and TikTokers.
It’s a transformation driven by five critical platform dynamics:
- Algorithms reward engagement over accuracy – the fact is that inflammatory content gets promoted, regardless of truth.
- Moments matter more than relationships – which means short-term wins will always trump long-term reputation.
- Personalisation creates the perfect echo chamber – feeding users content that only confirms their biases.
- Video and visual format first orientations naturally amplify sensationalists – thumbnails and headlines are designed to maximise shock value
- Ad revenue ecosystems incentivise clicks over quality – It’s about the money not the information.
Two key factors drive this growing news avoidance: media fatigue from constant exposure to upsetting content, and high levels of concern about accuracy. In South Africa, 67% say people are anxious about distinguishing real from fake news.
When clickbait becomes rage-bait. Now we should panic
At its worst, clickbait has evolved to become rage-bait – one of the most destructive forms of human communication. It is no longer enough just to gain attention; now we’re witnessing attempts to win eyeballs through extreme emotions like hate and prejudice.
Rage‑baiting is both on the rise in South Africa and having a growing impact, especially in political and influencer-driven content. A 2025 Institute for Security Studies (ISS) study found that South African political influencer networks were using transnational rage bait tactics during the 2024 national elections, including anti Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) campaigns and cross-border manipulation strategies. Additionally, a June 2025 report from Mail & Guardian characterised rage bait as a “hidden economy”, where outrage is being monetised via engagement-driven algorithms.
South Africa’s legal system is beginning to reckon with the consequences of digital abuse through legislation such as the Cybercrimes Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act. But as things stand no legislation directly addresses rage bait or anything similar. There is no regulation holding platforms accountable for the effect on people’s mental health and the social damage it causes or for unethically profiting from causing division and harm.
However, if we fail to address the core issue, such as a misleading headline or an incorrectly positioned news report, we are highly unlikely to resolve the situation when it escalates to rage.
The way forward: A new professional imperative for communicators
Let me say it again. The serious and professional communicators among us cannot sit and watch the world pass us by. Communicators need to (and must) take the lead. This is not only a media problem; it is a reputation risk that demands leadership. If we are responsible for managing trust, reputation and strategic clarity, then we must implement controls internally and externally to guarantee to our clients that we’re constantly addressing this threat. It starts with critical thinking. But in essence, three critical leaps are needed:
- Establish industry-wide standards: Create formal partnerships with news organisations through accords on accuracy standards, correction protocols, and rapid response mechanisms for addressing clickbait in real-time.
- Develop robust owned-media strategies: Build content strategies that leverage owned platforms to drive messaging directly, reducing reliance on earned media alone. This includes investing in corporate newsrooms, thought leadership platforms, and direct-to-audience channels.
- Implement advanced monitoring: Update reporting mechanics to identify, track, and address clickbait concerns in real-time, including sentiment analysis, headline accuracy tracking, and rapid response protocols.
We also need training interventions for increasingly junior newsrooms, and this means creating the appetite for investment in the future of quality journalism itself.
The way forward: Don’t just observe. Act
Good communicators appreciate that their role includes maintaining constructive relationships with the media in managing the dynamics of a demanding new world. But understanding isn’t enough, we must act.
This means moving beyond individual clickbait incidents to building a more systematic approach that not only protects our clients’ reputations but also helps restore media credibility. To put it another way: the battle against clickbait isn’t just about protecting individual reputations – it’s about preserving the integrity of public discourse itself.
As professional communicators, we have both the responsibility and the tools to lead this fight. In this way, it’s not about whether we should act, but whether we’ll act quickly enough to make a difference.
Dustin Chick is chief executive at Razor Public Relations South Africa.
