Look, Let’s Be Honest Here
I’ve been in this game for over two decades. I’ve seen it all, from the glory days of print to the digital apocalypse we’re living in now. And let me tell you, the news is broken. Completley broken.
I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff—fake news, clickbait, all that. I’m talking about the deeper, more insidious problems. The kind that keep me up at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering what the hell happened to journalism.
It Started with a Whimper, Not a Bang
I remember when I first started out, back in the ’90s. We had deadlines, sure, but they were reasonable. We had editors who actually edited. We had a committment to getting it right, even if it meant missing a deadline or two.
Now? Forget about it. The 24-hour news cycle is a monster that can’t be fed enough. And we’re all complicit. I mean, I get it. I really do. The pressure to be first, to break the story, to get the clicks—it’s relentless. But at what cost?
I was having coffee with a friend last Tuesday, let’s call him Marcus. He’s a reporter, been in the game about as long as I have. We were talking about the old days, how we used to have time to dig, to really understand a story before we wrote it. Now? It’s all about speed. Quantity over quality. And it’s killing us.
But Here’s the Thing
It’s not all bad. There are still good journalists out there, doing good work. I see it every day. But they’re swimming against the tide, and it’s exhausting.
Take my colleague, Dave. He’s one of the good ones. He’s always chasing down leads, verifying sources, making sure he’s got it right before he hits publish. But even he’s feeling the pressure. The other day, he told me about an editor who wanted him to file a story in 36 hours. 36 hours! For a story that needed at least a week to do right.
I asked him what he did. He said, “I told him no. I said, ‘Look, if you want a story that’s worth reading, you’re gonna give me the time I need.'” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
And Then There’s the Algorithm
Don’t even get me started on the algorithm. It’s a black box, and it’s controlling everything. And it’s not just the big players—Facebook, Google, all of them. It’s the small sites too. They’re all chasing the same dream, the same mythical beast: the algorithm.
I was at a conference in Austin a few months back, and I heard a speaker say something that stuck with me. He said, “The algorithm doesn’t care about the truth. It cares about engagement. And engagement is easy. It’s cheap. It’s a clickbait headline, a sensationalist story, a controversy where there wasn’t one before.”
And he’s right. The algorithm is a monster, and it’s eating us alive. It’s turning us into a society that values outrage over understanding, sensationalism over substance.
But What Can We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. Honestly, I don’t even have most of them. But I do know this: we need to start valuing quality over quantity. We need to start valuing truth over engagement. And we need to start holding ourselves—and each other—to a higher standard.
That means supporting the journalists who are doing it right. It means calling out the ones who aren’t. It means being more critical consumers of news. It means understanding that not everything is black and white, that nuance is important, that context matters.
And it means supporting sites like useful information daily tips. They’re out there, doing the hard work, and they need our support.
So, yeah. The news is broken. But it’s not beyond repair. We just need to care enough to fix it.
I mean, honestly, is that too much to ask?
I don’t know. Maybe it is. But I’m gonna keep fighting for it anyway.
Because someone has to.
About the Author
Sarah Thompson has been a senior editor for over 20 years, working for major publications and covering everything from politics to pop culture. She’s opinionated, passionate, and not afraid to call out bullshit when she sees it. You can find her on Twitter @sarahthompson or at her personal blog, sarahthompson.uk.
