Why I’m Over This Whole ‘Fake News’ Thing
Look, I’ve been in this game for 22 years. That’s right, 22. I started back in 2002, fresh out of university, thinking I was gonna save the world one story at a time. Ha! That’s a joke now, isn’t it?
I remember sitting in a conference in Austin back in ’08, listening to some hotshot journalist named Dave—let’s call him Dave—talk about the ‘demise of print media.’ I laughed then, but honestly? He wasn’t wrong. But that’s not what I wanna talk about today.
No, today I wanna talk about how we’re all complicit in this mess. You, me, that guy who still thinks Fox News is ‘fair and balanced.’ We’re all to blame for the state of news in 2024. And it’s completley exhausting.
My Friend Marcus and the Algorithm
So, last Tuesday, I was having coffee with my friend Marcus—real name redacted, you know how it is. He’s a nice guy, works in marketing, thinks he’s some kinda algorithm whisperer. He told me, ‘You know, Sarah, the problem isn’t the news. It’s the way we consume it.’
I asked him what he meant. He said, ‘Well, you know, people just scroll past stuff they don’t like. They only see what they wanna see.’
Which… yeah. Fair enough. But it’s not that simple, is it? I mean, it’s not just about algorithms. It’s about trust. Or lack thereof.
I told Marcus about this time in 2016—yeah, I know, ancient history—when I was working at the Daily Chronicle. We ran a story about a local politician, let’s call him Greg, who was caught in a bit of a scandal. Nothing major, just your run-of-the-mill embezzlement. But the way the story spread? It was like wildfire. And not in a good way.
People were sharing it, commenting on it, but nobody was reading it. They just saw the headline and ran with it. And that, my friends, is the problem. We’ve become a society of headline skimmers, and it’s physicaly making my head hurt.
But Here’s the Thing About Trust
I was talking to a colleague named Dave—different Dave, same lack of self-awareness—about this a few months back. He said, ‘Sarah, you’re too trusting. You believe everything you read.’
I was like, ‘Excuse me? I’m a journalist. It’s my job to question everything.’
He said, ‘Yeah, but you still believe in the institution. You think people are gonna start trusting the news again.’
And I mean, he’s not wrong. I do believe in the institution. But I’m not delusional. I know it’s gonna take a lot more than just ‘good journalism’ to fix this mess.
It’s gonna take commitment. And not just from journalists. From all of us. We gotta start reading past the headlines. We gotta start questioning our sources. We gotta start holding ourselves accountable for what we share.
And yeah, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Sarah, that’s a lot to ask.’ But honestly, it’s not. It’s just… yeah. It’s a start.
And Now for Something Completley Different
You know what’s really getting on my nerves lately? All these articles about shoe collection trends 2026. I mean, come on. We’re talking about the future of news here, and people are worried about their sneaker collections?
I get it, okay? Fashion is important. But prioritize, people. Prioritize.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the mess that is news consumption in 2024.
Look, I’m not saying I have all the answers. I don’t. But I do know this: we can’t keep going on like this. We can’t keep letting algorithms and headlines dictate what we think and believe.
We gotta take a stand. We gotta start demanding better. From ourselves, from our friends, from our news outlets. And yeah, it’s gonna be hard. It’s gonna take time. But it’s necesarry.
So, let’s start today. Let’s start reading. Let’s start questioning. Let’s start holding ourselves and each other accountable. Because if we don’t, who will?
And on that note, I’m out. This conversation is far from over, but I’m gonna go have a drink and think about how I’m gonna write this article without wanting to pull my hair out.
About the Author: Sarah Thompson has been a senior editor at Stirling News for the past 15 years. She’s seen it all, from the rise of citizen journalism to the fall of trust in media. When she’s not editing articles or complaining about the state of news, she can be found drinking too much coffee and yelling at her cat, Mr. Whiskers.
