‘Many readers won’t get past the headline.’
In a classic example of clickbait journalism, the Daily Express ran with the misleading headline this week:
“‘Brexit reset deal’ to hit grocery bills next month – how it affects your pockets.”
For a publication so often seen cheerleading Brexit, the headline seemed engineered to rile up its pro-Brexit readership. But click through, and it’s quite the opposite.
Within the opening paragraphs, the article quietly admits: “Fruits and vegetables coming into the UK from the European Union were due to start stricter border checks from the beginning of next month. However, thanks to Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit reset deal, these controls will be cut.”
Hardly a ‘hit’ to shoppers. In fact, the piece proceeds to outline how the new agreement will ease food imports and lower prices. Quoting biosecurity minister Baroness Hayman, the article notes: “This government’s EU deal will make food cheaper, slash bureaucracy and remove cumbersome border controls for businesses. A strengthened, forward-looking partnership with the European Union will deliver for working people as part of our plan for change.”
Not exactly the wallet-emptying disaster the headline implies. The article goes on to explain that routine border checks for many items will be eliminated, making it faster and cheaper to get produce into the UK. The new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement is expected to save businesses an estimated £200 million in additional supply chain costs.
Products now classed as ‘medium risk,’ such as tomatoes, grapes, plums, cherries, peaches, and peppers, can now be imported without extra checks or fees. These checks, originally postponed four times, have now been cancelled entirely.
The irony of the headline wasn’t lost on readers. One commented: “I hope to get “hit” with a lottery win next week. Really DE, the language you use is designed to be dishonest. People will be better off from the partial removal of Brexit damage as you grudgingly concede. The obvious question then is how much better off will we be if we scrap it altogether? It’s over Express. Brexit was a foolish and damaging thing which set this country back a generation or more. It failed and failed hard. The faithful are now an elderly and rapidly shrinking minority. It’s time the rest of use took our country back and restore our wealth and opportunities for younger people as well as our global security.”
Leeds for Europe noted the deceptive framing, writing: “Classic example of daily express spin…the headline makes it seem as if it’s bad news but the “journalist” has to grudgingly concede.”
Another simply noted:
“Many readers won’t get past the headline.”
And that’s likely the point.
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