https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/clowns-in-the-woods?utm_term=.km6QLgX2L#.yjDLW9a1W
Buzzfeed strikes again with more pseudo journalistic click bait article. To many who are familiar with buzzfeed they might be aware of their tendency to take the approach of making the interesting important and the quality of the article and journalistic principle being an afterthought. This article showcases the family horror story, but a very specific aspect of it having to do with our fascination with depravity and even more so the evil clown killer horror movie archetype. This article is irrelevant for several reasons the first being it happened in a small town in South Carolina, and second no actual crime has been committed as of yet, and until that changes there is no reason to believe that this isn't simply a hoax. This article scored very poorly on every aspect of the seven yardsticks of journalism, it was not newsworthy because it had no substance to leave a lasting effect on people. It was the most acceptable in terms of context because they referenced several townspeople they had interviewed as well as references to statements made by the Greenville police department. This article has no local relevance to anyone who doesn't live in Greenville South Carolina and even then this effects a very small percent of the towns population near where these incidents were reported. This article was not truthful and made no effort to be truthful, concealing the fact that this could very easily be a prank or a hoax and that no injuries or deaths have been reported. This was a classic case of making the interesting important and not the important interesting. Buzzfeed "News" is full of similar stories to this which is disappointing and I would expect this from the other divisions of Buzzfeed but would hope their news division would have higher standards. This article was not well written, it was deceitful and full of misleading information and half truths, and made no effort to follow any of the basic principles of journalism or 7 yardsticks.
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