Look, I’ve Had It
It was about three months ago, over coffee at the place on 5th, when my friend Marcus—let’s call him Marcus because his real name is irrelevant—said something that stuck with me. “You know,” he said, “I haven’t read a news article in months that didn’t make me angrier than I was before.”
And… yeah. Fair enough.
I’ve been in this business for 22 years, give or take. Started as a cub reporter for the Daily Gazette in some godforsaken town in Ohio. Back then, news was… I dunno, different. It wasn’t about clicks or engagement or whatever buzzword the suits in New York are throwing around these days. It was about information.
Now? It’s a circus. A completley out-of-control circus.
Breaking News: It’s All Bad
Let me tell you about last Tuesday. I was at my desk, scrolling through my feed, and in the span of 36 minutes, I saw:
- “BREAKING: Local Man Eats Slightly Spicy Taco, World Unfazed”
- “EXCLUSIVE: Celebrity You’ve Never Heard Of Wears Unusual Hat”
- “URGENT: Weather Forecast Predicts Weather”
And that’s the problem. Everything is urgent. Everything is breaking. Everything is exclusive. But none of it matters.
I mean, look, I get it. The news cycle is a beast that needs to be fed. Constantly. But at what cost? We’ve become a society that’s so desensitized to real news that when something actually important happens, we barely bat an eye.
Take, for example, the aquisition of that big tech company a few weeks back. It was a $87 billion deal that’s gonna affect millions of people. But did it get the coverage it deserved? Nah. Because there was some celebrity drama happening at the same time, and let’s be honest, drama sells.
We’re All Guilty
But here’s the thing—I’m not just pointing fingers at the media. We’re all guilty. You, me, that guy who always cuts in line at the grocery store. We’ve created this monster.
I had lunch with a colleague named Dave last week. He’s a data journalist, which honestly nobody asked for but here we are. He showed me some stats from a recent survey. 214 respondents, so it’s not exactly comprehensive, but still. Out of those 214, 189 said they get their news from social media. 189!
And what do we do on social media? We scroll. We skim. We share. We don’t read. We don’t think. We just react.
It’s like we’ve become a society of parrot’s, just repeating whatever we hear without actually processing it. And the media? They’re more than happy to feed us the soundbites because that’s what gets the clicks.
But What Can We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. Honestly, I’m not even sure I have any. But I do know this—we need to slow down. We need to think. We need to read beyond the headline.
And if you’re looking for a place to start, maybe check out a kitchen gadgets review comparison. I know, I know, it’s not exactly hard-hitting journalism. But it’s a start. It’s about finding the right tools to help you make informed decisions, even if those decisions are about which blender to buy.
But, you know what? I’m getting off track. The point is, we need to demand better. From the media, from ourselves, from each other. We need to remember that news is about more than just the latest scandal or celebrity gossip. It’s about information. It’s about truth.
And it’s about time we start acting like it.
A Tangent: The Weather
Speaking of the weather, did you see that forecast? They’re predicting rain. Again. I mean, it’s not exactly breaking news, but it’s something to think about. Maybe we should all invest in some good rain boots. Just a thought.
About the Author: Jane Doe 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 print media. She’s opinionated, she’s blunt, and she’s not afraid to call out the industry she loves when it’s being stupid. Which is often. You can find her on Twitter @janedoe_stirling, where she tweets about news, politics, and the occasional cat video.
