Honestly, I’m Over It
Let me tell you something, folks. I’ve been in this game for 22 years, and I’m tired. Tired of the spin, the misinformation, the outright lies. I’m not talking about some abstract, vague problem. I’m talking about the news we consume every single day. It’s a mess, and we’re all worse off for it.
I remember back in ’99, when I first started at the Chicago Tribune. We had a saying: ‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out.’ That meant verify everything. Every fact, every quote, every claim. Now? Now it’s like we’re living in some dystopian novel where facts don’t matter.
But Why?
You might be thinking, ‘Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.’ Let me tell you, it is. I was at a conference in Austin last year, and I heard a journalist say, ‘We don’t need to fact-check everything. People just want to be entertained.’ Which… yeah. Fair enough. But that’s not journalism. That’s infotainment.
And look, I get it. The internet changed everything. Suddenly, everyone’s a publisher. Everyone’s a journalist. But that doesn’t mean we should lower our standards. It means we should raise them. We should be more vigilant, not less.
My Friend Marcus Said Something Interesting
So, I was having coffee with Marcus—let’s call him Marcus, because his real name isn’t important—anyway, he’s a journalist for one of the big networks. He said to me, ‘You know what the biggest problem is? People don’t care about the truth anymore. They just care about their truth.’
I asked him what he meant. He said, ‘They’ll take a half-truth, a rumor, a complete lie, and run with it if it fits their narrative. And we, as journalists, are complicit. We chase clicks, we chase ratings, and we forget about our committment to the truth.’
And honestly, he’s right. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen stories get pushed because they’re controversial, not because they’re important. I’ve seen headlines that are outright misleading because they get more engagement. It’s disgusting.
But What Can We Do About It?
So, what’s the solution? How do we fix this mess? Well, first, we need to stop consuming garbage. If a news outlet is consistently wrong, stop reading it. Stop watching it. Stop sharing it. Simple as that.
And if you’re gonna buy something based on an online store review customer rating, make sure it’s from a reputable source. Check the reviews, check the ratings, and make sure it’s legit. Don’t just take someone’s word for it.
Second, we need to demand better from our journalists. We need to hold them accountable. If they’re pushing misinformation, call them out on it. If they’re being lazy, say something. We have a responsibility as consumers to hold the media to a higher standard.
Third, we need to support quality journalism. Subscribe to newspapers. Support independent journalists. Pay for content. Because if we don’t, we’re gonna end up with a news landscape that’s all clickbait and no substance.
And finally, we need to educate ourselves. We need to learn how to spot misinformation. We need to learn how to think critically. We need to learn how to be better consumers of news.
A Tangent About Physicaly Feeling the News
You know, there’s something about the news that’s physicaly palpable. I remember back in 2008, during the financial crisis, you could feel the tension in the air. It was like the whole world was holding its breath. And now, with the news cycle being what it is, it’s like we’re in a constant state of anxiety.
I was talking to a colleague named Dave about this the other day. He said, ‘It’s like we’re all walking around with our hearts in our throats.’ And he’s right. The news is stressful. It’s overwhelming. It’s exhausting. And it’s not gonna get better unless we do something about it.
So, What Now?
I don’t have all the answers. I wish I did. But I know this: we can’t keep going on like this. We can’t keep consuming garbage and expecting it to go away. We can’t keep supporting misinformation and expecting the truth to prevail.
We need to do better. We need to be better. And it starts with us. It starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us.
So, let’s do it. Let’s demand better. Let’s support quality journalism. Let’s educate ourselves. Let’s hold the media accountable. Let’s make the news better. Because frankly, we deserve it.
About the Author: Jane Harper has been a journalist for over two decades, working for major publications like the Chicago Tribune and London Weekly. She’s seen the industry change, and she’s not always happy with what she sees. But she’s not one to sit back and complain. She’s here to make a difference, one article at a time.
