WSJ's Linkbait Article

On Friday, I saw an article on WSJ titled Why French Parents are Superior. If this title sounds strangely familiar to you, it's probably because an article with the title, Why Chinese Mothers are Superior created kind of a national outrage 13 months ago[1].

Now, this article regarding French parents is actually quite tame and perhaps even on the side of nondescript. While this article is essentially a book promotion effort much like its Chinese predecessor, its content is nowhere near as controversial (which itself had been transmuted from its original intent and attitude by WSJ editors to be more sensational and eye-grabbing). This new article talks about bringing up small children, which is an area where no one has definitive confidence that they're doing things perfectly.

If the content and attitude of the article is so tame, then why the abrasive title? To be frank, this is just linkbait. That's right; the Wall Street Journal has fallen so low as to employ elementary linkbait material in an effort to attract readers. Their Chinese predecessor has been revealed to have been modified greatly from its original intent and attitude by WSJ editors, and so I expect nothing less for this article as well.

I used to think that the Wall Street Journal was one of the last standing bastions of journalism. Perhaps certain parts of the Journal are still upstanding, but it's pretty clear to me now that other sections behave like the prototypical internet troll.

It's pretty disappointing.