In this thesis I analyzed the web pages of Finnish news publication Ilta-Sanomat and examined whether the content of the news articles match the headlines of the article. I found that almost all of the headlines technically have backing in the articles themselves, but most headlines were misleading or withheld relevant information.

I also studied the headlines themselves and the rhetorical methods they use. I analyzed the ways in which Ilta-Sanomat make their headlines more tempting for the consumers, and figured out the logic they use for making headlines. I found clear and consistent ways that the headlines used rhetoric. For example, using the age or name of the person that was being reported in the headline, was clearly done in a purposeful way. I also found out that citations from the headlines are there only to pique the interest of the reader instead of telling about the article itself.

Tabloid magazines are often criticized for clickbaiting, but Finnish ethics for journalism states that the article must have backing for the headline. I studied how well Ilta-Sanomat follows this rule and analyzed whether they mislead people on purpose or do the headlines withhold relevant information.

I chose 21 most read articles from Ilta-Sanoma’s web pages from one week (30.10.2023–5.11.2023) for my study, because I wanted to analyze headlines that people click the most. I limited the material this way so I would get substantiable sample of the most read headlines, but I also wanted to limit the material, so I could analyze the connection between the headlines and articles thoroughly.