I’ve Had It Up to Here
Look, I’ve been in this business for 22 years. That’s right, 22. I started at a tiny paper in Nowheresville, Ohio, back in ’99. The kind of place where the biggest story of the week was old man Jenkins’ prize-winning pumpkin. I’ve seen a lot. And honestly? The state of news today? It’s a mess.
It’s not just the algorithms or the clickbait or the 24-hour news cycle. It’s all of us. You, me, that guy who won’t stop arguing about politics on Facebook. We’re all complicit. And it’s gotta stop.
Last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin. Over coffee at the place on 5th, I ran into an old colleague, let’s call him Marcus. He’s a good guy, been in the biz about as long as I have. We got to talking about how things have changed. Or, more accurately, how they haven’t.
We’re All Addicted to the Dopamine Hit
Marcus leaned in, all intense-like. He said, “You remember how it used to be, right? We’d spend days, weeks even, on a story. Digging, calling sources, verifying. Now? It’s all about the quick hit.”
And he’s right. It’s like we’re all addicted to the dopamine hit of the next big story. The next scandal, the next outrage. We can’t wait for the facts because the facts take time. And time, well, time is money. Or so they tell us.
I remember back in 2008, during the financial crisis. We had a team of reporters working around the clock. They were calling banks, talking to economists, digging through documents. It was hard work, but it was important. And you know what? People read it. They cared. They wanted to understand what was happening.
Now? It’s all about the headline. The bigger, the better. And if it’s not big enough? Make it up. Or at least, exaggerate it. Because the truth is, nobody really cares about the nuance anymore. They just want to be outraged.
But Here’s the Thing…
But here’s the thing. We can’t just blame the media. Because the media is us. It’s a reflection of what we want, what we demand. And right now, what we want is simple, easy-to-digest soundbites that confirm our existing beliefs.
I had lunch with a friend last week. Let’s call her Sarah. She’s not in the industry, but she’s smart, she pays attention. She said to me, “I don’t know what to believe anymore. Every time I turn on the news, it’s just worse than the last time.”
And I get it. It’s overwhelming. It’s like drinking from a firehose. But the thing is, we can’t just turn away. We can’t just say “It’s too hard” and walk away. Because that’s how democracy dies. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
So what do we do? Well, for starters, we can all commit to being better consumers of news. We can take the time to read past the headline. We can seek out multiple sources. We can question everything. Even the things we want to believe.
And for those of us in the industry? We need to do better. We need to slow down. We need to remember that our job isn’t just to inform, but to educate. To challenge. To make people think.
It’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna take time. And it’s gonna take a lot of hard work. But it’s worth it. Because the truth is, the truth matters. And someone has to be brave enough to tell it.
Oh, and One More Thing…
Look, I’m not saying I have all the answers. I don’t. But I know this: we can’t keep going the way we’re going. We can’t keep letting the news cycle be driven by outrage and clickbait. We need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and remember why we got into this business in the first place.
It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s about the truth. And the truth is, we’re better than this. All of us.
So let’s do better. Let’s be better. Because the world is watching. And honestly? They deserve better than what we’re giving them right now.
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About the Author: Jane Doe has been a journalist for over two decades, working her way up from a small-town paper to major national publications. She’s seen the industry evolve, devolve, and hopefully, revolve. She’s opinionated, passionate, and not afraid to call out bullshit when she sees it. When she’s not writing, she can be found drinking too much coffee and arguing about politics with her friends.
