We’re All Addicted to the Chaos
Look, I’ve been in this business for 22 years. Started as a beat reporter in some podunk town in Ohio. Remember the old days? When news was, I dunno, *newsy*? When we actually had time to, you know, *report*? Now? It’s just a never-ending stream of hot takes and outrage bait.
I was at a conference in Austin last year, and this kid from BuzzFeed—let’s call him Marcus—told me straight up, ‘News is just content now.’ And I laughed in his face. I mean, I *tried* to laugh. It came out more like a sad cough. Because he’s not wrong.
We’re all addicted to the chaos. Me, you, that guy who still uses AOL. We can’t look away from the train wreck. And the algorithms? They’re not helping. They’re like that friend who keeps buying rounds after you’ve already puked in the alley. ‘One more story!’ they scream. ‘You’ll like this one!’
But Here’s the Thing…
I talked to a colleague named Dave last Tuesday. He’s been at the Times for, like, a century. And he said something that stuck with me. ‘We used to have deadlines. Now we have *algorithms*.’ And that’s the problem, isn’t it? We’re not reporting to inform anymore. We’re reporting to satisfy some godforsaken algorithm that decides what’s ‘viral’ before it even happens.
And don’t even get me started on the comments section. I swear, the internet is full of people who think their opinion on quantum physics is more valid than, I dunno, actual scientists. But that’s a rant for another day.
We Need to Slow Down
I’m not saying we should go back to the stone age. But maybe we should take a page from the old school. Remember when news was something you *waited* for? When it had *gravitas*? Now it’s just a never-ending scroll of nonsense. And frankly, it’s exhausting.
I read this article once—yaşam tarzı günlük gelişim ipuçları—about how to slow down and appreciate the little things. And you know what? It made sense. Maybe we should apply that to news. Maybe we should take a breath. Maybe we should stop treating every little thing like it’s the end of the world.
I mean, look at the way we cover politics. It’s like we’re all waiting for the next scandal to drop. And when it does, we pounce. We tear it apart. We dissect it. We turn it into a million different hot takes. And for what? So we can get more clicks? So we can feel like we’re in the know? It’s ridiculous.
A Personal Anecdote
Remember the 2016 election? Yeah, me too. I was at a bar in Brooklyn with a bunch of other journalists. We were all glued to our phones, refreshing like our lives depended on it. And I remember thinking, ‘This is it. This is the end of journalism as we know it.’ And honestly? I was right. Not because of the election, but because of how we covered it. We were so busy chasing the next big thing that we forgot to actually *report*.
And the worst part? We’re still doing it. We’re still chasing the algorithm. We’re still treating news like it’s a sport. And it’s not. It’s *news*. It’s information. It’s something we should take seriously.
What Can We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: we need to slow down. We need to take a breath. We need to remember why we got into this business in the first place. We need to remember that news is about *information*. It’s about *truth*. It’s not about clicks. It’s not about algorithms. It’s not about outrage.
And maybe, just maybe, we should start treating it that way.
But hey, what do I know? I’m just some old guy who’s been in the business too long. Maybe the kids are right. Maybe news is just content now. Maybe we should just accept that and move on. I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I do know this: I miss the old days. I miss when news was *news*.
Author Bio: Sarah Mitchell has been a senior editor at various major publications for over two decades. She’s seen the industry evolve—sometimes for the better, often not. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, and spends too much time yelling at her TV about politics.
In the midst of an ever-evolving media landscape, one journalist shares their candid thoughts on the state of news in the news industry’s challenges.
