[iamalizard]

I think that stems from the format. It has to be video so they must show something. Better than a stock footage of a fire or, as South Park did, an "imagine if that school was full of rabbits".

We see the same useless media in thumbnails of text-based news and in the articles themselves with irrelevant stock photos.

Not only is it useless but it makes me consider the site/network less reputable if they're engaging in such attention-grabbing practices that tend to pander to idiots.