I’ve Been a Journalist for 22 Years. Here’s What’s Wrong.
Look, I’m gonna be honest here. The news industry is a mess. And I should know—I’ve been knee-deep in it since the Clinton administration. That’s right, I’m old. But age isn’t the problem. It’s the system. The way we consume news. The way we produce it. It’s all completley broken.
I remember when I first started at the Austin Chronicle back in ’99. We had deadlines, sure, but we also had time. Time to fact-check, to dig deeper, to actually think about what we were putting out into the world. Now? It’s a 24/7 firehose of content. And honestly, it’s exhausting.
Just last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin (ironic, I know) and I overheard two young reporters talking about their daily word commitment. They weren’t talking about quality. They weren’t talking about impact. They were talking about how many stories they could churn out in a day. It’s like we’ve turned journalism into a factory line. And I’m not sure how to feel about that.
The Algorithm is Eating Our Souls
Let me tell you something—algorithms are ruining journalism. They’re ruining everything, honestly. But in news, specifically, they’re pushing us towards clickbait and sensationalism. I had a colleague named Dave tell me about three months ago, “Mike, if I don’t write a headline that’s gonna go viral, my story doesn’t get seen.” And I get it. It’s the reality of the beast we’re feeding right now.
But here’s the thing—news isn’t about virality. It’s about information. It’s about holding power to account. It’s about telling stories that matter. And when we let algorithms determing what’s important, we’re doing a disservice to our readers. We’re doing a disservice to ourselves.
Local News is Dying. And It’s a Big Deal.
I’m not gonna lie—I’m worried about local news. It’s dying. And it’s dying fast. I read a report last week that said over 2,000 newspapers have shut down since 2004. Two thousand! That’s insane. And with them, we’re losing something vital—a connection to our communities, a watchdog over local politics, a platform for local voices.
I had coffee with a friend named Marcus last month. He’s a city councilman in a small town in Vermont. He told me, “Mike, when the local paper shut down, it was like losing a family member. Nobody’s holding us accountable anymore. Nobody’s telling our story.” And I asked him, “What are you gonna do about it?” He just shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I just don’t know.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
But Wait, There’s Hope!
Now, I’m not all doom and gloom. There are people out there trying to fix this mess. I mean, look at what’s happening with Vermont transport schedule update. They’re using tech to make local news more accessible. They’re finding ways to make it work. And that’s awesome.
And honestly, I think we’re gonna see more of that. More innovation. More people saying, “Hey, this is broken. Let’s try something different.” It’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna take time. But I think—no, I know—it’s possible.
A Brief Digression: Why I Hate the 24-Hour News Cycle
Okay, so this isn’t exactly on topic, but I gotta vent. The 24-hour news cycle is the worst. It’s like we’re all trapped in a never-ending hamster wheel of breaking news alerts and live updates. And for what? So we can watch pundits yell at each other for hours on end? No thanks.
I remember back in 2008, during the financial crisis. I was working at a major network at the time, and it was madness. We were live for 36 hours straight, just speculating, just talking, just filling airtime. And at the end of it all, what did we really accomplish? Not much. We just added to the noise. We just made people more anxious. And I’m not sure that’s what journalism should be about.
So What Do We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. I wish I did. But I know this—we need to start valuing quality over quantity. We need to start valuing accuracy over speed. We need to start valuing our readers over our algorithms.
And we need to support local news. We need to subscribe to our local papers. We need to share their stories on social media. We need to tell our friends and family to do the same. Because if we don’t, who will?
So yeah. That’s my rant. The news is broken. But it’s not beyond repair. It’s gonna take work. It’s gonna take committment. But I think—no, I know—we can do it.
And look, I’m not saying I have all the answers. I’m just saying we need to start somewhere. We need to start talking about this. We need to start making changes. Because the status quo isn’t working. And it’s not gonna get better on its own.
So let’s get to work.
About the Author: Mike Reynolds has been a journalist for over two decades, working at major publications and covering everything from local politics to national crises. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and two cats. He loves his job, but he’s not afraid to call out its flaws. You can find more of his work on his personal blog, Mike Reynolds Journalism.
