Hard Copy: How Breaking News has been Broken in the Content Farming Era

Earlier this week rumors swirled on social media that Rory McIlroy was finalizing a deal to join LIV Golf for an astronomical $850 million. The notion was both outlandish and counterintuitive to everything McIlroy has said up to this point, making the claim bizarrely captivating. It also exemplified a growing problem in sports writing and spreading misinformation.

The original publication — a financial “paper”, of all things — is a website littered with clickable ads and popups that generate revenue for the website based on article engagement and impressions. There’s little doubt that this specific article was a huge money-maker, too. The article has been shared thousands of times by various accounts on X and beyond, eventually prompting McIlroy himself to publicly comment on the baseless claims presented within.

We’ve seen this song and dance before. The “journalists” who authored the article at least had the decency to include the following passage, which tells you all you need to know about the truth behind their claims:

It has not been possible to verify the claims. Spokespeople for the Northern Irish player and LIV Golf did not respond to requests for comment.

This feels like the new standard operating procedure for a growing number of publications. Make a baseless claim when the iron is still hot (the day after the Masters, for example), toss in a “could not be reached for comment” disclaimer somewhere in the middle of the content and share, share share. But to which I can certainly attest, clicking “post” on an article only gets you so far. You also need a little help on social media.

Enter the Content Farmers.

Simply put, “content farmers” are social media accounts that scour the internet looking for stories that can be sensationalized with a clickbait headline and post them on their own timelines. Note that these accounts don’t write the articles themselves (that would be too much work), nor do they make it a habit of doing any actual reporting. Their goal is to amass a following as large as possible by using this practice over, and over, and over again.

The most notable accounts in the Golf Twitter realm include @FlushingItGolf, @NUCLRGOLF, and about a dozen more of their ilk. These two verified X accounts have over 200,000 combined followers, posting dozens of times a day to their audience. NUCLRGOLF even offers a subscription option for a small fee. There is little doubt these accounts are profitable in their own right thanks to X’s revenue share program.

I know what you’re thinking: this is just sour grapes from another website founder who has a fraction of the following of those aforementioned accounts. You’d be correct. Allow me to explain.

Golf Unfiltered has been around for well over a decade. We’ve tried to do as much as we can with the resources available to us and the tools used most at any point along that timeline. Golf Twitter wasn’t always a thing, nor was Squarespace, podcasting platforms or revenue share programs. We've dabbled in clickbait headlines ourselves, but never for more than an article or two. But above all else, we’ve done our best to bring thoroughly researched reporting (to the best of our ability) and in-depth opinions on golf’s current state.

We are not special in that regard, nor are we alone. Much more successful outlets like No Laying Up, The Fried Egg, The Golfers Journal, Lying Four and many others are not as much competitors as inspiration. Their collective work paved the way for countless other upstart media outlets, showing that passionate golf fans can come together and create something others might enjoy.

Content farming accounts are not the same thing.

Those accounts are the worst side of golf media. They are profiting off the hard work of others if not outright circumventing the need to do the same on their own. They shout into the ether, waiting to see what catches the eye of less-informed casual scrollers who never read past a headline before sharing the latest nugget. Sometimes, as was the case with Rory McIlroy, it catches enough steam to prompt public action, validating their efforts.

Online publications are really damn hard to manage. As my colleagues at GU will tell you, I make the same “joke” every year that this year will be the last for GU. It’s frustrating, expensive, and a lot of hard work. Most things that are worth it can say the same.

If you’ve made it this far into this article, thank you. If you’ve ever clicked on a single piece of content we’ve produced, thank you. If you’ve ever responded to a tweet or post on our platforms — even to tell us how wrong or dumb we are — thank you.

What happened this week with Rory and LIV was not about us or any of the other outstanding outlets mentioned above. It was about you and the level of disrespect thrown your way by content farming accounts. They don’t care about educating or enhancing your enjoyment of the game we all love. They just want your engagement and dollars. You are their marks.

If you’re comfortable with that fact, more power to you. I can’t stop you from following and engaging with those accounts. All I ask is to show support to the outlets who care less about your wallets and more about our shared experience in this game.