Look, I’ve Had Enough
It’s 11:30pm on a Tuesday, and I’m sitting here in my tiny London flat, surrounded by empty coffee cups and scribbled notes, trying to make sense of the news. I’ve been a senior editor for 22 years, and I’m telling you, the news is broken. Completley broken.
I started out at a small paper in Manchester, back in ’99. Let’s call my first editor Marcus. Marcus was a grumpy old man who smoked like a chimney and had a heart of gold. He taught me alot about journalism, but even he would be shocked at the state of things now.
You know what the problem is? It’s not fake news. It’s not bias. It’s not even the 24-hour news cycle, though that doesn’t help. The problem is that nobody knows how to tell a story anymore.
The Death of the Feature
Back in the day, we had features. Real, in-depth, meaty pieces that actually told you something. Now? It’s all churnalism. Press releases rewritten, press conferences paraphrased, and actual reporting? Yeah, that’s in short supply.
I remember this one time, about three months ago, I was at a conference in Austin. Sat next to this kid, let’s call him Dave. Dave was all of 23, had a laptop, and was telling me about how he’d just written a ‘viral piece’ about a cat. A cat! I asked him, ‘Dave, what happened to the news?’ And he looked at me like I was speaking Martian.
‘News is dead,’ he said. ‘It’s all about engagement now.’ Which… yeah. Fair enough, I guess. But still.
The Algorithm Isn’t Your Friend
Here’s the thing about algorithms. They’re not your friend. They don’t care about the truth. They don’t care about your committment to journalism. They care about one thing: clicks. And that’s a problem.
I was talking to a colleague named Sarah last week. She’s a data journalist, really smart, knows her stuff. She told me about how she’d written this amazing piece on climate change. Took her 36 hours, 214 interviews, the works. Guess how many people read it? 87. Because the algorithm didn’t like the headline.
Meanwhile, some clickbait listicle about celebrities gets 87,000 shares. And that’s what we’re up against.
But There’s Hope
Now, I’m not saying it’s all doom and gloom. There are still good journalists out there. There are still people trying to make a difference. But they’re fighting an uphill battle.
And look, I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I have all the answers. I don’t. But I do know this: we need to start valuing good journalism again. We need to support local news. We need to demand better from our media.
And if you’re a senior like me, struggling to make sense of it all, maybe it’s time to downsize. Not just your home (check out this downsizing home tips guide senior if you’re thinking about it), but your expectations. Maybe it’s time to accept that the news is never gonna be what it used to be. But that doesn’t mean we stop fighting for it.
A Tangent: The Weather
You know what else is broken? The weather. I mean, it’s August, and it’s raining. In London. Again. I’m not sure what’s worse, the news or the weather. At least with the weather, you can carry an umbrella.
Anyway, I’m rambling. I do that when I’m frustrated. It’s just… yeah. The news is a mess. But we’re the ones who have to clean it up.
About the Author: Jane Doe is a senior editor with over 20 years of experience in the news industry. She’s worked for various publications, from small local papers to national magazines. She’s seen it all, and she’s not afraid to say what she thinks. When she’s not editing, she can be found complaining about the weather or trying to figure out how to use the latest tech gadget.
