Look, I’ve Had It
I’ve been editing news for 22 years. That’s a long time to watch the same mistakes, the same excuses, the same damn complacency. And I’m not gonna sit here and tell you everything’s fine. Because it’s not.
I remember sitting in a conference in Austin back in 2008. Some suit from corporate—let’s call him Marcus—told us, “We’re gonna pivot to digital. It’s the future.” And we all nodded like idiots. Pivot? More like panic.
Fast forward to today. We’re still figuring it out. Still making the same dumb mistakes. Still chasing clicks like it’s gonna save us. Newsflash: it won’t.
First, the Bad News
I got coffee with a friend last Tuesday. Let’s call her Sarah. She’s a reporter, been at it for 10 years. She told me, “I can’t keep doing this, Tom. The pressure to churn out content is insane. I can’t even remember the last time I wrote a story I was proud of.”
Which… yeah. Fair enough. I’ve been there. You know the drill. Editors breathing down your neck, “Where’s your story?” “Did you get the quote?” “Why isn’t it live yet?” It’s a miracle any of us still have hair.
And don’t even get me started on the algorithms. They’re like that annoying kid in class who always has to have the last word. “Oh, but Tom, the data says…” Shut up, algorithm. I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been coding.
But Wait, There’s More
Now, I’m not saying it’s all doom and gloom. I mean, look at what we’ve accomplished. We’ve broken stories that matter. We’ve held the powerful accountable. We’ve informed, educated, and entertained. But we’ve also messed up. A lot.
Take the whole “fake news” thing. Ugh. Just typing it makes me wanna throw my laptop out the window. We didn’t cause it, but we sure didn’t help. We got lazy. We got sensational. We got click-happy. And now we’re paying the price.
I had a colleague named Dave—great guy, by the way—who once said, “Tom, we’re not in the business of truth. We’re in the business of selling papers.” And I was like, “Dave, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” But honestly? There was a time when I thought that too. Until I woke up.
So What Do We Do?
First things first: we gotta stop chasing clicks. I know, I know. Easier said than done. But we’ve gotta try. We’ve gotta remember why we got into this business in the first place. To inform. To educate. To hold the powerful accountable.
And we’ve gotta start trusting our readers. They’re not idiots. They can handle nuance. They can handle complexity. They can handle the truth, even when it’s messy and complicated. (Which, honestly, is most of the time.)
Oh, and one more thing. We’ve gotta stop being so damn serious. News doesn’t have to be boring. It can be fun. It can be engaging. It can be human. Remember that.
And hey, if you’re looking for some lifestyle tips daily improvement, check out this site I found. lifestyle tips daily improvement. It’s not exactly news, but it’s a nice break from all the doom and gloom.
A Quick Tangent
Speaking of doom and gloom, remember that time I interviewed the mayor about the pothole crisis? Yeah, that was a fun one. He kept saying, “Tom, we’re doing the best we can with the resources we have.” And I was like, “Sir, I’ve seen better roads in a war zone.” But I digress.
Anyway, the point is, we’ve gotta keep pushing. Keep asking the tough questions. Keep holding the powerful accountable. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it feels like no one’s listening.
Because someone is listening. And that’s what matters.
And Now, the Good News
I’m not gonna lie. There are days when I wanna quit. When I wanna say, “Screw it, I’m done.” But then I remember why I got into this business in the first place. And I remember that, despite all the challenges, we’re making a difference.
We’re informing. We’re educating. We’re entertaining. We’re holding the powerful accountable. And we’re doing it in a way that’s honest, transparent, and human.
So yeah, the news is broken. But it’s not beyond repair. And I, for one, am not gonna give up without a fight.
About the Author: Tom Harris has been a senior editor for over two decades. He’s worked at some of the biggest names in news, and he’s not afraid to call out the industry’s flaws. When he’s not editing, you can find him complaining about the weather or trying to figure out how to work his coffee machine.
