Let’s Talk About This Mess
Look, I’ve been in this game for 20+ years. I’ve seen alot of things come and go, but the current state of news? It’s completley bonkers. I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff—fake news, clickbait, all that. I’m talking about the deeper, more insidious problems that nobody wants to address.
So, let’s start with the obvious. The news is a mess. It’s fragmented, it’s sensationalized, and it’s often just plain wrong. I mean, I was at a conference in Austin last year, and this guy—let’s call him Marcus—stood up and said, “The news industry is like a broken record. It just keeps playing the same old tunes, but nobody’s listening anymore.” And I was like, “Yeah, Marcus, you’re not wrong.”
But here’s the thing. It’s not just about the news being broken. It’s about the fact that nobody seems to care. Or, if they do care, they don’t know what to do about it. And that’s a problem. A big one.
Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?
I remember back in the day—okay, maybe not that far back—when news was actually news. It was factual, it was objective, and it was delivered by people who actually cared about getting it right. Now? It’s a circus. A complete and utter circus.
Take, for example, the whole “street style inspiration ideas” phenomenon. I mean, what even is that? It’s not news. It’s not journalism. It’s just a bunch of people trying to get clicks. And it’s working. Because, frankly, we’ve become a society that values entertainment over information. And that’s a scary thought.
I was talking to a colleague named Dave the other day, and he said, “You know, I think the news is just a reflection of our society. If we’re shallow, the news will be shallow. If we’re deep, the news will be deep.” And I was like, “Dave, that’s the most depressing thing I’ve heard all week.”
The Problem with Algorithms
But here’s the real kicker. The algorithms. You know, those pesky little things that decide what we see and what we don’t. They’re not helping. In fact, they’re making things worse. Because they’re designed to keep us engaged, not informed.
I read this study—okay, maybe it was just an article—about how algorithms are shaping our news feeds. And it’s not pretty. It’s like a feedback loop from hell. We click on the sensational stuff, so the algorithms show us more sensational stuff. And before you know it, we’re living in a world where the only news that matters is the news that’s gonna make us click.
And don’t even get me started on social media. It’s a whole other can of worms. But that’s a story for another day.
What Can We Do About It?
So, what’s the solution? Honestly, I’m not sure. But I do know that we need to start somewhere. And that somewhere is with us. The consumers. The people who actually care about getting the news right.
We need to demand better. We need to seek out quality journalism. We need to support the outlets that are doing it right. And we need to call out the ones that aren’t. It’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna take time. And it’s gonna take a lot of effort. But it’s gotta be done.
I mean, think about it. If we don’t do something, who will? The algorithms? The social media giants? Yeah, right. That’s like asking a fox to guard the henhouse.
So, let’s start here. Let’s start now. Let’s make a committment to ourselves to be better consumers of news. To seek out the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it’s hard. Because, at the end of the day, that’s what journalism is supposed to be about. The truth. Not clicks. Not engagement. Not algorithms.
And if we can do that, maybe—just maybe—we can start to fix this broken mess we call the news.
But for now, I’m gonna go have a drink. Because, honestly, I need it.
About the Author
Sarah Thompson has been a senior magazine editor for over 20 years, working with major publications and covering everything from politics to pop culture. She’s opinionated, flawed, and not afraid to say what she thinks. When she’s not editing, you can find her arguing about the news with anyone who will listen.
