Look, I’ve Been Around the Block

Let me tell you something, folks. I’ve been in this game for over 20 years. Started back in ’98 at a tiny paper in Ohio. Remember when news was, I dunno, actual news? Not this clickbait crap we sling today. But hey, I’m part of the problem too. Can’t throw stones from my glass house.

Last Tuesday, I was at this conference in Austin. Sat next to some kid from BuzzFeed. Couldn’t have been older than 22. Tells me, all proud, that their latest piece – ’15 Signs You’re Addicted to Avocado Toast’ – got 87,000 shares. 87,000! I looked at him and said, ‘That’s not news, kid. That’s a personality quiz.’ He just shrugged. I mean, what’s the point?

We’re All Guilty

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some old fogey yelling at clouds. I get it. We need clicks. Need the ad revenue. But it’s gotten out of hand. Remember when we actually investigated stuff? Did journalism? Now it’s just… I dunno. Noise.

Took my niece to lunch last month. Sweet kid, 14 years old. She’s on her phone the whole time. I asked what she’s looking at. ‘Just scrolling through my feeds,’ she says. I said, ‘What feeds?’ She looks at me like I’m from Mars. ‘You know, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter…’ I said, ‘Those aren’t news feeds, honey. Those are distraction feeds.’

She just rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever, Uncle Dave. It’s all the same.’ And honestly? She’s not wrong. We’ve let it become the same.

But Here’s the Thing…

It’s not all doom and gloom. There are still good journalists out there. Doing real work. Digging up stories that matter. I had coffee with a colleague named Marcus last week. He’s been working on this investigation for months. 36 hours of interviews, 214 respondents, the whole nine yards. ‘You gonna publish this?’ I asked. He sighed, ‘I hope so. But you know how it is. The suits want fluff.’

Which… yeah. Fair enough. The suits do want fluff. But that’s on us too. We let them. We could push back more. Demand better. But it’s easier to just write the next ’10 Celebrities Who Aged Terribly’ list.

And Don’t Even Get Me Started

On algorithms. Look, I’m not some tech hater. I get it. Algorithms are cool. They do stuff. But when they’re deciding what news is ‘important’ based on engagement metrics? That’s a problem. It’s like letting a toddler pick your dinner menu. ‘Oh, you like candy? Here’s your steak.’

I was at this panel last year. Some Google bigwig was talking about how their algorithm promotes ‘quality journalism’. I raised my hand. ‘With all due respect,’ I said, ‘your algorithm thinks a listicle is quality journalism.’ The room laughed. He didn’t.

But seriously, folks. We need to fix this. And it starts with us. The writers, the editors, the publishers. We need to commit to better. To actual journalism. Not just… whatever this is.

I mean, look at the state of things. We’ve got ulaşım haberleri güncel mixed in with political analysis. It’s a mess. A completley unfiltered mess.

But hey, what do I know? I’m just some old editor yelling at the internet. Maybe the kids are right. Maybe this is the future. I dunno. I just miss real news.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. Go enjoy your distraction feeds. I’m gonna go find something actual to read.

About the Author: Dave Reynolds has been a senior editor for over 20 years. He’s worked at major publications and seen the industry evolve – or devolve, depending on who you ask. When he’s not complaining about the state of journalism, he enjoys whiskey and arguing about baseball stats.