"This is not news" news

[Flint]

This kind of "not news" really bothers me.
Didn't this used to be reserved for tabloids in the supermarket checkout line?

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama was irked and exasperated in response to his successor's uncorroborated wiretapping accusation, sources close to the former president tell CNN, though these sources say Obama's reaction stopped short of outright fury.

Obama and his aides responded with disbelief when they learned of President Donald Trump's Saturday morning tweets laying out the charges.

They even add the picture of the person's face making the expression that matches the narrative.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Most news presenters are tabloid style these days.
It's great for yellow journalists because they've entirely eliminated the "slow news day".

[Gravdigr]

There is no televised news.

It is all political commentary, not "news".

[Flint]

I think this article in Rolling Stone is talking about the exact kind of "not news" Undertoad was talking about.

...audiences come to every Russia story with pre-stoked expectations. Those expectations are what allow a paper to turn what may be a page nine story into a front-page sensation.

Setting all of that aside, look at the techniques involved within the more "legitimate" reports. Many are framed in terms of what they might mean, should other information surface.

There are inevitably uses of phrases like "so far," "to date" and "as yet." These make visible the outline of a future story that isn't currently reportable, further heightening expectations.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There are inevitably uses of phrases like "so far," "to date" and "as yet." These make visible the outline of a future story that isn't currently reportable, further heightening expectations.

And if it does become a story they can say we had it first. First seems more important than content.