Look, I’m Gonna Say It
I’ve been in this business for 22 years, and let me tell you, the news is broken. Completley broken. I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff—fake news, clickbait, all that. I’m talking about the fundamental way we consume and interact with news.
I remember back in ’99, when I was a wet-behind-the-ears reporter at the Perth Chronicle, my editor, let’s call him Marcus, told me, “News is about telling the truth, even if it’s unpopular.” Simple, right? But these days, it’s like we’ve forgotten that basic principle.
And it’s not just the big networks or the online rags. It’s all of us. We’re all complicit. We share stuff without reading it. We believe headlines without clicking through. We let algorithms decide what we see. It’s a mess.
But Here’s the Thing
I was having coffee with a friend last Tuesday—let’s call him Dave—who works at a local radio station. He said, “You know, we used to have time to fact-check, to dig deep. Now, it’s all about being first, not being right.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
I asked him, “So what’s the solution?” He just laughed and said, “I don’t know, man. Maybe we need to slow down. Maybe we need to care less about virality and more about veracity.” (Yes, he actually said “veracity.” Show-off.)
And Don’t Even Get Me Started on Social Media
I mean, come on. We’ve all seen it. A half-baked story gets posted on Twitter, and suddenly it’s everywhere. No context, no nuance, just outrage. And we eat it up. Why? Because it’s easy. It’s engaging. It’s designed to make us feel something.
I remember this one time, about three months ago, I saw a post about some politician making a controversial statement. The headline was something like, “Politician Says Outrageous Thing, World Ends.” So, naturally, I clicked. And guess what? The actual quote was taken out of context. The “outrageous thing” was actually a nuanced discussion about policy. But by then, the damage was done. The story had already gone viral.
So What Can We Do?
I’m not sure, honestly. I think the first step is admitting we have a problem. We need to stop sharing stuff without reading it. We need to demand better from our news sources. We need to support journalism that actually does the work.
And look, I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s gonna take a committment from all of us—readers, journalists, platforms. But it’s gotta start somewhere. Maybe with you. Maybe with me. Maybe with a current affairs analysis update you read and actually think about.
I mean, I don’t know. I’m just one guy with a lot of opinions and a keyboard. But I know this: the news is broken, and we’re all to blame. So let’s start fixing it.
Oh, and by the way, if you’re a journalist and you’re reading this, do better. We owe it to our readers.
About the Author: Sarah Thompson has been a senior editor for over two decades, working with major publications across the UK. She’s seen the industry evolve (or devolve, depending on who you ask) and isn’t afraid to call out the problems she sees. When she’s not editing, she’s probably arguing about politics on Twitter or drinking too much coffee.
