Headlining

News, due to the fact that it is a business, tends to go where it believes the public's attention is going to be. And that can make looking up the latest headlines into an exercise in understanding where news organizations and aggregators think the most interest will be, as opposed to actually becoming more informed.

Consider these top headlines when I looked up the Technology section of Google News:

It's pointless to ask if the fact that Walmart will have more Switch 2 consoles to sell is genuinely newsworthy, because, in a sense, of course it is, that's why Google is leading with that story. And I think that it's because this is, as the saying goes "News you can use." People who are looking for the new Nintendo system can now plan to go get one, or order it online. The fact that the Switch is back in stock is actionable by people who are interested in it, unlike a lot of news stories today.

Due the short shelf life of the information, it's not the sort of thing that feels particularly informative, big picture. And maybe that's part of the reason why is garners so much attention; it's not just another thing happening somewhere that readers can't do anything to change or improve. It's not the media mining the public's anxieties for clicks. It's "Hey; that thing you wanted? There are more of them now." I can see why that would be appealing to people.