Spike (journalism)

Journalism term

Spiking, in journalism, is the act of withholding a story from publication for editorial, commercial, or political reasons. A spiking may be permanent, or temporary, depending on what instigated it and whether the objection(s) can be overcome. The term "spike" originally referred to a metal spike on news or copy editors' desks, upon which they would impale rejected stories. Although the term comes from print media, radio, television and online publications also spike stories for the same reasons.[1]

Some examples would be a story that, while factually correct, would likely incite a powerful local politician, upset a valuable advertiser in that paper, or bring unwanted attention to a community. The editorial staff or, if preempted, the newspaper ownership or management must balance all its interests against purely theoretical "journalistic integrity". Conflicts involving spiking often arise from stories being pursued as part of investigative journalism, or which threaten to bring on a libel lawsuit (that could prove expensive to fight even if groundless).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Franklin, Bob; Hamer, Martin; Hanna, Mark; Kinsey, Marie; Richardson, John E (19 May 2005). Key Concepts in Journalism Studies. SAGE Publications. p. 328\. ISBN 9781446230756. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Harold Evans, memoirs of the future: The Spike, Mr Bow-Tie and other Fleet Street legends. The Times Literary Supplement, September 16, 2009. Archived from the original. Retrieved 13 August 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Media and human factors

* Cognitive psychology
* Externality
* Evolutionary psychology
* Behavioral modernity
* Cognition
* Mismatch
* Media psychology
* Media studies
* Social psychology

Media practices|

* Betteridge's law of headlines
* Gatekeeping
* Infotainment
* Human-interest story
* Junk food news
* Least objectionable program
* Soft media
* Journalistic scandal
* Media bias
* Media manipulation
* Pink-slime journalism
* Political endorsement
* Propaganda
* Public relations
* Missing white woman syndrome
* News values
* Sensationalism
* Hot take
* Spiking
* Tabloid television
* Yellow journalism

Attention|

* Attention economy
* Attention inequality
* Attention management
* Attention span
* Chumbox
* Clickbait
* Cognitive miser
* Low information voter
* Digital zombie
* Phubbing
* Doomscrolling
* Human multitasking
* Media multitasking
* Mobile phones and driving safety
* Smartphones and pedestrian safety
* Texting while driving
* Influence-for-hire
* Infodemic
* Information explosion
* Information overload
* Information pollution
* Information–action ratio
* Rage farming
* Screen time
* Binge-watching
* Television consumption
* Sticky content

Cognitive bias/
Conformity|

* Availability cascade
* Availability heuristic
* Bandwagon effect
* Confirmation bias
* Crowd psychology
* Mobbing
* Moral panic
* Mean world syndrome
* Negativity bias
* Peer pressure
* Social-desirability bias
* Social influence bias
* Spiral of silence

Digital divide/
Political polarization|

* Algorithmic radicalization
* Youth
* Echo chamber
* Fake news website
* Post-truth politics
* United States
* Filter bubble
* Knowledge divide
* Knowledge gap hypothesis
* Political polarization in the United States
* Social media use in politics
* United States
* 2016 U.S. presidential election
* 2020 U.S. presidential election

Related topics|

* Computer rage
* Criticism of Facebook
* 2021 Facebook company files leak
* Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
* Criticism of Netflix
* Cultural impact of TikTok
* Digital media use and mental health
* Effects of violence in mass media
* Fascination with death
* Griefer
* Mass shooting contagion
* Psychological effects of Internet use
* Sealioning
* Social aspects of television
* Social bot
* Social impact of YouTube
* Technophilia
* Neophile
* Technophobia
* Violence and video games

This journalism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template