Why I Still Care About News
Let me tell you something, folks. I’ve been in this game for 23 years. That’s right, 23. I started back in 1999, when the internet was still wearing diapers. I’ve seen alot, and I mean alot. And honestly? I’m still trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
I remember sitting in a conference in Austin back in 2005, listening to some hotshot tech bro—let’s call him Marcus—tell us that print was dead. ‘Dead as a doornail,’ he said. And I laughed. I laughed because I was young and stupid and thought I knew everything.
But here’s the thing: he was right. Sorta. I mean, print is dead. Or dying. Or whatever. But news? News isn’t dead. It’s just… yeah. It’s changing. And not always for the better.
Social Media: The Wild West of News
Look, I get it. Social media is a beast. It’s a monster. It’s a beautiful, terrifying, uncontrollable monster. And it’s not going away. My friend Sarah, who runs a small news site in Manchester, told me last Tuesday over coffee at the place on 5th, ‘We gotta be on social, or we’re invisible.’ And she’s right. But it’s a mess.
I mean, have you seen some of the stuff that gets shared? It’s like people have completely forgotten how to think. They just see a headline, click, and boom. They’re sharing it like it’s gospel. And it’s not even gospel. It’s barely even news.
And don’t even get me started on verification. I had a colleague named Dave who spent 36 hours trying to verify a story last month. 36 hours! And by the time he was done, the story was old news. Buried under a mountain of other, equally unverified, equally sensationalized stories.
But hey, if you’re gonna be on social media, you gotta be smart about it. Like, if you’re trying to receive instagram verification code online, you gotta make sure you’re doing it right. Because, trust me, there are alot of scams out there. And nobody wants to be scammed.
The Death of Local News
Okay, so this is where I get pissed. Local news is dying. And it’s not just dying, it’s being murdered. By corporations. By greed. By a completley broken system.
I remember when I started out, you had your local paper, your local TV station. They knew the community. They cared about the community. Now? Now it’s all about ratings and clicks and committment to the bottom line.
I talked to a source—let’s call him John—who worked at a local paper in Birmingham. He told me, ‘We used to have 12 reporters. Now? We’ve got three. And one of them is the sports guy. The other two are trying to cover everything else.’ Which… yeah. Fair enough. But it’s not fair. It’s not fair to the community. It’s not fair to the reporters. It’s just not fair.
The Rise of the Citizen Journalist
But it’s not all doom and gloom. No, no, no. There’s hope. And it comes in the form of citizen journalists. These are the people who are out there, on the ground, reporting what’s really happening.
I met this woman—let’s call her Lisa—at a conference in London last year. She’s a citizen journalist. She told me, ‘I don’t have a fancy degree or a big news network behind me. But I have a phone. And I have a story to tell.’ And that’s it. That’s all you need these days.
But here’s the catch: citizen journalists need support. They need training. They need resources. And they need to be taken seriously. Because, frankly, they’re doing the work that traditional news outlets should be doing.
My Take: We Need to Adapt or Die
So, what’s the solution? I’m not sure but I think it’s a mix of everything. Traditional news outlets need to adapt. They need to embrace social media. They need to support citizen journalists. And they need to remember why they got into this business in the first place: to inform, to educate, to hold power to account.
And as for me? I’m still here. I’m still fighting. I’m still trying to make a difference. Because, at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about. It’s about making a difference. It’s about telling the truth. It’s about being there, even when it’s hard. Even when it’s scary. Even when it’s not always popular.
So, yeah. That’s my take. Take it or leave it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.
About the Author: Jane Doe is a senior editor with over 20 years of experience in the news industry. She’s worked for major publications, started her own news site, and has seen it all. She’s opinionated, she’s passionate, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind. You can find her on Twitter @janedoe or crying into her coffee at the place on 5th.
