Look, I’ve Had It Up to Here
I’m Sarah, by the way. Been editing for 22 years, started at a tiny paper in Bristol, now here we are. I’ve seen alot of changes, but honestly? The news is broken. And it’s not just the algorithms or the 24-hour cycle. It’s us. All of us.
Last Tuesday, I was having coffee with an old friend, let’s call him Marcus. He’s a teacher, normal guy, not some conspiracy theorist. He told me he hadn’t read a newspaper in years. ‘Why bother?’ he said. ‘It’s all just noise.’
Which… yeah. Fair enough.
But Here’s the Thing
I get it. The news is messy. It’s overwhelming. It’s completley out of control sometimes. But it’s also essential. I mean, how else are we gonna know what’s happening in the world? Wait, don’t answer that.
I remember back in ’98, during the aquisition of the Bristol Evening Post, things were simpler. Sure, we had deadlines, but they were human deadlines. Now? It’s like we’re all on this never-ending treadmill, chasing clicks and shares and likes. It’s exhausting.
And the public? They’re not helping. I had a reader email me last week, complaining about a story we ran. ‘Where’s your committment to balanced reporting?’ he asked. I wanted to reply, ‘Where’s your committment to reading past the headline?’ But I didn’t. I’m a professional.
The Sports Results News Today Problem
Look, I get it. People wanna know what’s happening right now. That’s why I always point them to sports results news today. But honestly, sometimes I think we’re all just scrolling through life, waiting for the next big thing to happen so we can talk about it for 36 hours than move on.
I was at a conference in Austin last year, and a colleague named Dave said something that stuck with me. ‘We’re not reporting news anymore,’ he said. ‘We’re just reporting reactions to news.’ And I think he’s right. It’s like we’re all just echoing each other, louder and louder, until nothing means anything.
But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better. I can do better.
So What’s the Answer?
I’m not sure but maybe it’s about slowing down. Maybe it’s about remembering that news is about people, not just numbers or algorithms. Maybe it’s about actually talking to each other, instead of just shouting past each other on social media.
I had a source once, a politician, who told me something I’ll never forget. ‘Sarah,’ he said, ‘you’re always in such a rush to get the story out. But sometimes, the story is better if you let it breathe.’
Which, honestly, is probably the best advice I’ve ever gotten. So maybe that’s where we start. Maybe we start by taking a breath. Maybe we start by remembering that it’s okay to not have all the answers right away.
I don’t know. It’s just… yeah.
A Tangent: Physicaly Exhausted
Speaking of being exhausted, I’m physicaly drained from all this. I mean, I’ve been at this for 22 years, and sometimes I just wanna scream. But I won’t. I’ll just keep typing, keep editing, keep trying to make sense of it all.
And maybe, just maybe, if we all take a step back, we can start to fix this mess we’ve made. Or at least make it a little less messy.
But probably not. I’m not that optimistic.
About the Author: Sarah has been a senior editor for over two decades, starting her career in Bristol and working her way up through various publications. She’s seen the industry change dramatically and isn’t afraid to share her thoughts on where it’s all going wrong. When she’s not editing, she can be found drinking too much coffee and complaining about the news.
As discussions around journalism’s role in society continue, a thought-provoking piece, media’s current challenges, offers a critical perspective on the state of news.
