Look, I’ve Been Doing This for 22 Years
Let me tell you something, folks. I’ve been in this game since the Clinton administration. That’s right, I’m old. I started at a tiny paper in Ohio, moved to a mid-sized one in Texas, and now I’m here. And let me tell you, the news is broken. Completley broken.
I remember when we actually had time to fact-check. Now? It’s all about speed. Speed and clicks. It’s disgusting, honestly.
But Here’s the Thing
We can’t just blame the algorithms. I mean, sure, they’re a big part of it. But look, we’re all to blame. You, me, that guy who still thinks Twitter is a good place for news.
I was talking to a friend last Tuesday—let’s call him Marcus—over coffee at the place on 5th. He said, “Dave, you’re always complaining about the news. What’s the point?” I told him, “Marcus, the point is that we’re drowning in misinformation. And it’s our own damn fault.”
Which… yeah. Fair enough. But still.
Let’s Talk About Commitment
You know what’s worse than fake news? The fact that we’ve lost our committment to truth. It’s not just the big networks, either. It’s the small guys, the bloggers, the guy who runs a “news” page on Facebook from his basement.
I was at a conference in Austin about three months ago. A colleague named Dave—ironic, I know—told me about a study. 214 respondents, I think. Basically, it showed that people share news on social media without even reading it. 68% of them, to be exact.
68%. That’s not a typo. That’s a damn tragedy.
And don’t even get me started on the comments section. It’s a cesspool. A completey unmoderated, unregulated cesspool.
But What Can We Do?
I’m not sure. Honestly, I’m not. I mean, we can try to be better. We can try to read before we share. We can try to think critically. But is that enough?
I talked to a source last week—let’s call her Sarah—about this. She said, “Dave, it’s like trying to stop a tidal wave with a bucket.” I asked, “So, what, we just give up?” She told me, “No, but we need to be realistic.”
Which, you know, she’s not wrong.
But look, here’s what we can do. We can support quality journalism. We can pay for news. We can demand better from our sources. And we can stop sharing that political news analysis today without reading it first.
I mean, come on. It’s not that hard.
A Tangent: The Time I Got Duped
Speaking of, I gotta tell you about this one time. It was 2008, I think. Maybe 2009. I was working at the paper in Texas. I got this press release about a new study. It was about, I don’t know, something boring. Anyway, I wrote a quick piece, didn’t even call the source. Turns out, the study was a complete sham. The company behind it? They were just trying to sell a product.
I was mortified. I mean, I’m still mortified. But that’s the thing, right? We’re all human. We all make mistakes. But we gotta own up to them. And we gotta do better.
So, What Now?
I don’t know. I really don’t. But I do know this: we can’t keep going like this. We can’t keep swallowing the red pill and the blue pill and whatever other damn pill they’re selling us.
We need to wake up. We need to demand better. And we need to start treating news like it matters. Because it does. It really, really does.
Anyway, that’s my rant. I’m gonna go drink some coffee and complain about the news some more.
About the Author: Dave Thompson has been a journalist for 22 years. He’s worked at small papers, mid-sized ones, and now he’s here. He’s a grumpy old man who still believes in the power of truth. He lives in a small town with his wife, two kids, and a dog named Loki. He’s on Twitter, but he doesn’t like it.
