Confession: I’m Part of the Problem
Okay, full disclosure. I’m a dinosaur. A relic. A senior editor at a once-respected news outlet, now scrambling to stay relevant in this digital circus. I’ve been in this game since the dial-up days, and honestly, I’m not sure I like where it’s gone.
It was 1998. I was fresh out of journalism school, green as a lime. My first editor, let’s call him Marcus, sat me down and said, “Kid, the news is sacred. We inform, we educate, we hold power to account.” I believed that. I still do. But then the internet happened.
When the Internet Ate Our Lunch
Remember when news was, I don’t know, news? You’d spend days on a story, dig deep, talk to real people. Now? It’s a race to the bottom. Who can be first, not who can be right. I had lunch with an old colleague, Dave, last Tuesday. He’s at a digital outlet now. “We put up 87 stories yesterday,” he told me. “87!” I asked. “And how many had actual reporting?” He looked at his shoes. “Three, maybe four.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
And don’t even get me started on the algorithms. They’re training us to click, not to think. I saw a study last month – 214 journalists surveyed, 78% said they feel pressure to write for clicks, not for quality. That’s a problem.
But Here’s the Thing…
Look, I get it. The world’s changed. We need to adapt. But at what cost? I was at a conference in Austin about three months ago. A panel of digital editors were talking about “engagement.” One of them said, “We need to make news fun.” Fun? News isn’t fun. It’s serious. It’s important. It’s not a damn game.
And the platforms, oh boy. They’re not helping. They’re in the business of keeping you hooked, not informed. I read an article last week about how social media feeds are designed to trigger dopamine hits. It’s like they’re turning us all into lab rats.
A Quick Rant About Tech
Speaking of tech, let’s talk about cloud computing solutions comparison (yes, I know, random). I was trying to set up a new system for our newsroom, and it was a nightmare. I mean, who designs these things? It’s like they want you to fail. Anyway, I found this useful resource that helped me figure it out. But that’s a story for another time.
What Can We Do?
I’m not sure, honestly. I think we need to slow down. Stop chasing clicks. Go back to basics. But how? I mean, my boss wants numbers. Advertisers want engagement. It’s a mess.
I was talking to a friend last night. She’s not in the industry. She said, “Why don’t you just write what you think is important?” I said, “It’s not that simple.” She said, “It is.” Maybe she’s right. Maybe it is that simple.
But then what? Do we just ignore the metrics? Pretend the algorithms don’t exist? That’s not realistic. I’m not sure what the answer is. I wish I had one.
Ending on a Sour Note
So here we are. The news industry in shambles, public trust at an all-time low, and me, a senior editor, sitting here at my desk at 11:30pm, wondering what the hell happened. I’m not optimistic. But I’m not giving up either. Someone’s gotta hold onto the old ways, right?
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I’m gonna go find a dark corner and sulk. Maybe I’ll write something nice tomorrow.
About the Author: Sarah “Danger” Thompson has been a senior editor at various news outlets for, oh god, 22 years. She’s seen the industry evolve, devolve, and now she’s just trying to survive. She lives in Shanghai with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, and a collection of half-read books. She tweets at @sarahteditor when she’s not muttering about the state of journalism.
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