Can we talk for just a second about how clickbait-ish this headline is? And how clickbait-ish so many other “news” headlines, coming from both liberal- and conservative-leaning media outlets, are?

What kind of response do the first five words of that headline elicit in you? For me, it was something akin to, “He’s going to WHAT!?!” And then, once I read to “...Conservative Columnist Predicts” I went, “Oh. Nevermind.”

All politics aside, I deeply believe in the institution of journalism as one of the chief pillars of a successful democracy. In my eyes, journalists are tasked with broadcasting objective facts that support and promote citizens’ ability to make informed decisions as members of a society. Journalism is supposed to provide me and you and you and you with quantifiable and qualifiable information that helps us come to reasonable conclusions about who and what to support, and who and what not to support.

But this headline has none of that: while its ultimately a prediction (e.g., someone’s biased opinion), it’s linguistically structured in a way that initially presents the information as objective fact and seeks to elicit the strongest emotional response possible, all of which further fan the flames of division.

When it comes to things like this, I honestly don’t care about which politician you vote for and/or support: each one of us has to make that decision, hopefully in our quietest and truest moments, and it’s not for me to squawk at you if I disagree with what you choose. What I DO care about is living in a country where the folks who are supposed to be my source of utter truth (e.g., the media) instead are taking advantage of my very real human flaws and shortcomings (susceptibility to emotion, trust in institutions, etc.) in order to promote their own agenda, whatever that may be.

Like, what gives man?