Look, I’ve Been Doing This for 20 Years
Let me tell you something, folks. I’ve been in this game since 1998. That’s when I started at the Chicago Tribune, fresh out of college, thinking I was gonna save the world one story at a time. Ha! (Which honestly nobody asked for but here we are.)
Back then, it was different. We had time. We had space. We had, like, actual commitment to journalism. Now? It’s a mess. And it’s not just the algorithms or the clickbait or the ads. It’s us. We broke it.
I remember sitting in a conference in Austin back in 2004, listening to some hotshot tech bro—let’s call him Marcus—talk about how the internet was gonna democratize news. ‘Everyone’s gonna be a reporter!’ he said. I asked him how that was gonna work, exactly. ‘People will just share what they see,’ he told me. Which… yeah. Fair enough. But not like this.
We’re All Clickbait Now
See, the thing is, we let it happen. We let the algorithms win. We let the ads dictate what we write. We let the comments sections turn into sewers. And now, we’re all just chasing clicks. It’s not just the big sites, either. It’s your local paper. It’s your friend’s blog. It’s your aunt’s Facebook posts. We’re all in on it.
I had lunch with a colleague named Dave last Tuesday. He’s a good guy, been in the biz alot longer than me. We were talking about how we used to do stories. Back in the day, you know? You’d spend weeks on a piece, dig up sources, fact-check everything. Now? It’s all about speed. Get it up, get it out, get the clicks. Quality? That’s secondary.
And don’t even get me started on the comments. I mean, honestly, who reads those things? It’s like a race to the bottom. The worst take wins. The most outrageous comment gets the most likes. It’s a circus, and we’re all just clowns.
But Here’s the Thing
It doesn’t have to be this way. I mean, look, I’m not saying it’s easy. But we can do better. We have to. For starters, we gotta stop feeding the beast. We gotta stop chasing clicks and start chasing stories. We gotta remember why we got into this in the first place.
I remember when I first started out, my editor—her name was Linda—she told me something I’ll never forget. ‘People trust us,’ she said. ‘They trust us to tell them the truth. Don’t screw that up.’ And you know what? She was right. We had a responsibility, and we screwed it up.
But it’s not too late. We can fix this. We can start by being honest with ourselves. We can start by admitting that we messed up. And we can start by remembering what journalism is supposed to be about.
And look, I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy. It’s gonna take time. It’s gonna take effort. It’s gonna take a lot of hard work. But it’s worth it. Because at the end of the day, that’s what we signed up for, right? To tell the truth. To hold the powerful accountable. To give a voice to the voiceless.
So let’s do that. Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s remember why we got into this in the first place. And let’s start telling some damn stories.
A Quick Digression: Pet Care and News?
You might be wondering what this has to do with pet care. Honestly, not much. But if you’re a new pet owner, you might wanna check out some pet care tips new owners. Trust me, it’s a whole different kind of commitment. And speaking of commitment, we need to be committed to fixing the news. It’s not just about the big stories, either. It’s about the little things. It’s about the everyday stuff that makes up our lives.
Like, for example, the fact that your local paper probably has a better sports section than it does a news section. Or that your friend’s blog probably has more insightful political commentary than any major news outlet. It’s about realizing that we’ve let the big stuff overshadow the little stuff, and that’s not okay.
We Need to Talk About the Elephant in the Room
And that elephant is us. We’re the problem. We’re the ones who let this happen. We’re the ones who let the algorithms win. We’re the ones who let the ads dictate what we write. We’re the ones who let the comments sections turn into sewers. And we’re the ones who have to fix it.
So let’s start. Let’s have that hard conversation. Let’s admit that we messed up. And let’s start telling some damn stories.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about. It’s about the stories. It’s about the truth. And it’s about the people who trust us to tell it.
About the Author: Sarah Johnson has been a senior magazine editor for over 20 years. She’s worked at major publications, covered countless stories, and has a few regrets (but who doesn’t?). When she’s not editing, she’s probably arguing about journalism on Twitter or trying to figure out how to explain the news to her cat.
