Look, Let’s Be Honest Here
I’ve been editing news for 22 years. 22 years! I started back in ’98 at a tiny paper in Portland, Oregon. We used to actually fact-check. We’d call people. We’d go to places. Now? It’s all tweets and hot takes. And honestly, I’m tired.
Last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin. Sat next to some kid from BuzzFeed. He told me, ‘News is about engagement now, Marcus. If it doesn’t get clicks, it doesn’t exist.’ I asked him if he even knew what ‘committment’ to truth meant. He laughed. I didn’t.
Which brings me to the point. The news cycle is completley broken. And it’s not just the fault of algorithms or social media. It’s ours. All of us.
Remember When News Was Actual News?
Back in the day, we’d spend days on a story. We’d dig. We’d confirm. We’d write. And then we’d publish. Once a day. That’s it. No 24-hour news cycle. No ‘breaking news’ every 10 minutes. Just news.
I remember this one time, about three months ago, I was talking to a colleague named Dave. He’s a reporter over at the New York Times. He told me, ‘We used to have time to think. Now, it’s just react, react, react.’
And he’s right. We react. We don’t think. We don’t verify. We just throw stuff out there and hope it sticks. And the public? They’re worse. They just wanna see their own biases confirmed. It’s a mess.
Social Media is the Devil
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some old fogey who hates technology. I love tech. I love innovation. But social media? It’s the devil incarnate when it comes to news.
It’s all about the algorithm now. And the algorithm doesn’t care about truth. It cares about engagement. It cares about clicks. It cares about keeping you on the platform. And that’s why we’re seeing this rise in sensationalism. In misinformation. In outright lies.
I was talking to a friend last night. Let’s call him Marcus. He said, ‘I don’t even know what’s real anymore.’ And that’s the problem. We’ve lost trust. We’ve lost credibility. And it’s gonna take a lot more than just ‘better reporting’ to fix it.
But Wait, There’s More!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Oh great, another old journalist complaining about the kids and their internets.’ But it’s not just about the kids. It’s about the whole system. It’s about the aquisition of news outlets by corporations. It’s about the physicaly impossible deadlines. It’s about the fact that we’re all so busy trying to keep up that we can’t even stop to think.
And don’t even get me started on the 24-hour news cycle. It’s a joke. A completley ridiculous joke. We’re expected to fill 24 hours a day with ‘news.’ So what do we do? We pad. We repeat. We sensationalize. We make stuff up. It’s a disgrace.
But here’s the thing. We can fix it. We can fix it by demanding better. By refusing to engage with clickbait. By supporting actual journalism. By taking the time to think. To verify. To fact-check. It’s not easy. But it’s necessary.
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And look, I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy. But it’s necessary. We need to break the cycle. We need to go back to basics. We need to remember what news is supposed to be about. Information. Truth. Not engagement. Not clicks. Not algorithms.
So, let’s start there. Let’s start by demanding better. By supporting actual journalism. By taking the time to think. To verify. To fact-check. It’s not easy. But it’s necessary.
And hey, if you disagree, that’s fine. But don’t just say ‘I disagree.’ Tell me why. Give me facts. Give me sources. Give me something to work with. Because that’s what journalism is about. It’s about the truth. It’s about the facts. It’s about the story.
And that’s all I’ve got. I’m gonna go have a drink now. I need it after all that.
About the Author
I’m Sarah Jenkins, a senior magazine editor with 22 years of experience in the news industry. I’ve worked at everything from tiny local papers to major national publications. I’m opinionated, blunt, and not afraid to call out bullshit when I see it. I love journalism, but I hate what it’s become. So I’m here to talk about it. To complain about it. To try and make it better. One rant at a time.
When I’m not editing or writing, I’m probably drinking coffee, reading a book, or yelling at my TV about politics. I live in Portland, Oregon, with my cat, Mr. Whiskers, and my collection of vintage typewriters.
