The News Is Broken, and Honestly, I'm Over It

Let's Talk About the Mess We're In

Look, I've been in this game for over 20 years. I started back in 1998, at a tiny newspaper in Portland, Oregon. Let's call my editor Marcus. Marcus was a chain-smoking, coffee-guzzling nightmare who thought AP style was some kinda cult. (He wasn't wrong, frankly.)

But Marcus taught me one thing: news matters. It's the lifeblood of democracy, or so we used to say. Now? I'm not so sure.

Last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin. Over coffee at the place on 5th, I ran into an old colleague named Dave. Dave's been at CNN for 15 years. He said, "You know, Sarah, I used to believe in this. Now? It's just a job." Which... yeah. Fair enough.

But Here's the Thing

I mean, look at what's happening. We've got 24/7 news cycles, alot of talking heads, and basically no original reporting. It's all just noise. And the public? They're completley lost. I did a little informal poll last month—214 respondents, nothing scientific—but 78% of them said they don't trust the news. At all.

And honestly, can you blame them? I remember back in 2008, during the financial crisis, we actually had reporters on the ground. Now? It's all just press releases and tweets. It's pathetic.

But Let's Talk About Solutions

So, what do we do? Well, first, we gotta admit we have a problem. The news industry is broken. It's not fixing itself. And honestly, I'm not sure anyone's gonna fix it for us.

But here's a thought: maybe we need to go back to basics. Remember when news was about facts? Not opinions, not sensationalism, just facts. I think we need more of that. And less of the "breaking news" alerts that are just some celebrity's bad hair day.

And look, I get it. It's hard. Journalism is expensive. It's time-committment. But that's no excuse. We owe it to the public to get it right.

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Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, fixing the news. It's gonna take time. It's gonna take money. It's gonna take a lot of physicaly hard work. But it's worth it. Because, honestly, we can't keep going like this.

I was talking to a friend last night—let's call him Jake—about this. He said, "Sarah, you're preaching to the choir." And he's right. But someone's gotta say it.

So, here's my challenge to the industry: let's make a change. Let's stop chasing clicks and start chasing the truth. It's not gonna be easy. But it's necessary.

And if we don't? Well, then we're just part of the problem. And I, for one, am tired of being part of the problem.

Anyway, that's enough from me. I'm gonna go have a drink and forget about the state of the world for a while.

About the Author: Sarah Mitchell has been a journalist for over 20 years. She's worked at everything from small-town newspapers to major national publications. She's seen the industry change, and honestly, she's not sure it's for the better. But she's not giving up hope just yet.