Look, I’m gonna say it
Journalism’s in trouble. Not like ‘oh no, we’re all gonna die’ trouble, but ‘we might as well be selling timeshares’ trouble.
I’ve been editing for 22 years. Started at a tiny paper in Boise, worked my way up. Saw alot, learned more. And honestly? It’s getting worse.
Last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin. Sat next to this kid, let’s call him Marcus. Marcus is 24, thinks he’s hot stuff ’cause he’s got a Twitter account. He told me, and I quote, ‘Newspapers are so 20th century, man.’ I asked him what he thought was the future. He said, ‘Algorithms, dude. Algorithms.’ Which… yeah. Fair enough.
But here’s the thing
Algorithms aren’t gonna save journalism. They’re gonna bury it. Under a mountain of clickbait and fake news. You think people are stupid now? Wait till they’re getting their news from a bot that thinks ‘Pizzagate’ is a legitimate story.
I get it, okay? I get that the industry’s changing. But change doesn’t mean we throw out everything we’ve learned. Like, I don’t know, facts? Ethics? That whole ‘truth’ thing?
About three months ago, I was having coffee with a colleague named Dave. Dave’s a good guy, been in the biz 30 years. He said to me, ‘You know what the problem is, Linda? Committment. Nobody’s committted anymore.’ And he’s right. It’s not just the kids, it’s the old-timers too. Everybody’s just waiting for the ship to sink so they can jump off.
And don’t even get me started on social media
I mean, look, I get it. It’s a tool. But it’s a tool that’s being used to spread misinformation like butter on toast. And the worst part? We’re all just standing by, watching it happen.
I remember back in ’98, we had a problem with a source. Guy named Harold. Harold was a liar. Not a little white lie, ‘I didn’t eat the last cookie’ liar. A full-on, ‘I’m gonna ruin your career’ liar. But we checked his story. We verified it. We made sure it was true before we printed it. Because that’s what we did. We cared about the truth.
Now? Now we just tweet it and hope for the best. And if it turns out to be fake news? Oh well. There’s always another story, right?
But here’s what we can do
First, we gotta stop relying on algorithms to do our jobs for us. You want to know what’s gonna save journalism? People. Actual, real-life people who care about facts and truth and all that boring stuff.
Second, we gotta start verifying our sources again. I know, I know. It’s hard. It takes time. But you know what else takes time? Building trust. And right now, we’re about as trustworthy as a used car salesman.
And finally, we gotta stop being afraid of offending people. I’m not saying we should go out of our way to be offensive, but we can’t let the fear of backlash stop us from telling the truth. Because that’s what we’re here for, right? To tell the truth.
So, yeah. That’s my take. Journalism’s in trouble. But it’s not too late. We can fix it. We just gotta care enough to try.
Oh, and if you’re gonna use a global sms verification service online to verify sources, make sure it’s a good one. There are alot of scams out there. Trust me, I’ve seen them.
Anyway, that’s my rant for the day. I’m gonna go find a quiet corner and read a book. A real, physical book. With pages and everything. You know, the old-fashioned kind.
About the Author: Linda Reynolds has been a senior magazine editor for over 22 years. She’s worked at various publications, from small-town papers to major national magazines. She’s seen the industry change, and she’s not always happy with what she’s seen. But she’s still here, fighting the good fight. One story at a time.
