We’re in a Crisis, and Nobody’s Talking About It
Look, I’ve been in this business for 22 years. I started as a cub reporter in a small town in Oregon, and I’ve seen it all. Or so I thought. But honestly, I’m worried. The news is broken, and we’re all just kinda pretending it’s not.
It was last Tuesday, I was having coffee with an old colleague named Dave. We were at this little place on 5th, you know the one with the terrible pastries but great WiFi. Dave said to me, “You know, Sarah, we’re not just biased anymore. We’re completley lost.” And I mean, I wanted to argue, but… he had a point.
We used to have standards. You know, the basics. Check your sources, get both sides, don’t make stuff up. But now? It’s a free-for-all. And it’s not just the big networks or the 24-hour noise machines. It’s all of us. Me included.
But Wait, There’s More
So, I was talking to this guy, let’s call him Marcus, right? Marcus is a data journalist, super smart, knows his stuff. He told me something that blowed my mind. He said, “Sarah, we’ve got 214 respondents in our latest survey, and 87% of them said they don’t trust the news anymore.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
But here’s the thing. It’s not just about trust. It’s about committment. We’re not committed to the truth anymore. We’re committed to our sides, our tribes, our little echo chambers. And it’s killing us.
Let Me Tell You About This Time…
So, it was about three months ago, I was at a conference in Austin. There was this panel, right? All these big shots talking about the future of journalism. And one of them, I won’t name names, said something like, “We need to aquisition more data to better serve our audiences.” And I’m sitting there thinking, “Lady, you don’t need more data. You need a conscience.”
And that’s the problem. We’re so focused on the numbers, the clicks, the algorithms, that we’ve forgotten why we’re here. We’re here to tell the truth. The whole truth. Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when it hurts.
But What Can We Do?
I don’t know, honestly. I mean, I have ideas. We could start by actually talking to each other. Not at each other, but with each other. We could try to understand where people are coming from, even if we don’t agree. We could maybe, just maybe, admit that we don’t have all the answers.
And look, I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s not. It’s hard. It’s messy. It’s complicated. But it’s necessary. Because if we don’t fix this, if we don’t determing to do better, then what’s the point?
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But Enough About Me
I could go on, but I won’t. I’m tired, and I’m sure you are too. So let’s just leave it at this: The news is broken. We broke it. And it’s up to us to fix it.
But I’m not holding my breath.
About the Author: Sarah Mitchell has been a journalist for over two decades, working in print, broadcast, and digital media. She’s won awards, made enemies, and learned the hard way that the truth is rarely simple. She lives in Portland with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, and a collection of vintage typewriters.
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