Soap fans are beginning to distrust spoiler alerts and with good reason

Spoiler alerts might be in big trouble

Daytime fans don't know what to believe anymore when they read articles about their favorite shows. Within the past 6 months, it seems that many soap spoilers have sensational headlines to get you to click on the article. When you read it there is nothing related to the topic. One spoiler has 3 or 4 articles daily with the same headline. "The tragic news about Maurice Benard", "The tragic News about Melody Scott Thomas" The tragic news about Deidre Hall etc. When you read there is nothing tragic at all.

How can these people sleep at night knowing they are trying to manipulate soap fans who genuinely want to know what is going on with their favorite daytime shows? One individual recently admitted that the spoiler she wrote for encouraged her to embellish. This person said she is the one who put out the story that John McCook of The Bold and the Beautiful had signed a 3-year contract when he had not.

News outlets run with fake news

TV Insider and Deadline who I believed to be credible spread the false narrative. I wrote about it for NewsBreak listing what the sources said. I never confirmed it was true. Even so, another spoiler shared my article and called me and NewsBreak liars and said she had the receipts. Reporting what has been written is not the same as personally stating something is true it is letting readers know what is being said. I never said for a fact that McCook had signed a contract I only reported that others did but I was thrown under the bus.

Once upon a time spoilers were reliable and really got news from set insiders and what they wrote came to pass. Now I don't know what sources to trust and I don't want to mislead the daytime viewers. Last year there were at least 3 news outlets that wrote about Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine) on General Hospital celebrating 45 years. These articles were written as if Charleson had given a recent interview but it was recycled from 2011. Leslie Charlseon has not been seen or heard from since March 2022.

Fans don't like to be misled

Today I read an article saying that Roger Howarth (Austin Gatlin Holt) on General Hospital had shared that he was leaving the soap. After I read it I realized that when Howarth was interviewed it was some time ago after he had COVID and was off GH for a while. The article was written as if the actor had said his character who was shot on Friday's episode was going to die and he would be written out of the ABC soap.

Sadly 3 or 4 soap spoilers saying the same thing in 2023 does not make it so. This makes it difficult for those of us who want to reveal the truth. There is one spoiler where information is so fabricated that on at least 3 or 4 Facebook groups the group managers have said they don't want anything from that spoiler on their sites.

What has happened to journalistic integrity?

In an article reporting what others have said the writer is the messenger. If the information is false don't shoot the messenger. I enjoy sharing information about soaps with loyal fans but how long will they continue to read if they cannot trust what has been written? I wonder what has happened to the integrity of people who will manipulate and even lie just to get someone to their site.

Shut down fake news reporting

I hope in time soap fans will be able to tell the difference between fake news and honest reporting. This way they can hit the liars where it hurts by not giving them any traffic. At the same time, they can support and encourage those who are not attempting to mislead them to earn a buck. Soap fans you have the power to shut down the false narratives.

We all fall short and miss it from time to time but when you see the same news source giving you clickbait headlines and reporting false information time and time again don't go to that site anymore. Support the writers who are giving you accurate reports and the fake news media will have to start doing it right or shut down.

I have not named any of the offending websites because I don't believe in being petty, outing people, and bringing receipts as was done to me. You the soap fans are savvy enough as you read the spoilers to decide for yourselves.