Let’s Talk About How Bad It’s Gotten
Look, I’ve been in this business for 22 years. I started back in 1999, fresh out of college, working for a tiny newspaper in Boise, Idaho. Let’s call the editor Bob. Bob was a chain-smoking, coffee-chugging relic who still thought the internet was a fad. (He was wrong about that, obviously, but right about alot of other things.)
But even then, even when I was just a wet-behind-the-ears cub reporter, I could see the cracks. The news wasn’t perfect, but it was… I dunno, better? More honest? Less… I don’t even know how to describe it.
And now? Now it’s a completley different beast. A monster, honestly. And I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff. The partisan echo chambers, the clickbait, the ads that follow you around the internet like a creepy stalker. I mean, sure, all that’s bad. But it’s more than that.
We’re All Guilty
Last Tuesday, I was having coffee with an old friend, let’s call him Marcus. Marcus works for a big digital news outlet. We were talking about the election, obviously, because that’s all anyone talks about these days. And he said something that stuck with me.
“We’re all guilty,” he said. “We’re all just trying to get clicks. To get eyes on the page. And sometimes, that means… I dunno, bending the truth a little. Or at least, not being as thorough as we should be.”
Which… yeah. Fair enough. I mean, I’ve done it too. We all have. You’ve got a deadline looming, your editor’s breathing down your neck, and you need to file something. So you write what you know, or what you think, or what you hope is true. And you hope for the best.
The Problem with ‘Both Sides’
But here’s the thing. The thing that really gets under my skin. The whole “both sides” nonsense. You know what I’m talking about. “Let’s hear both sides of the story.” “We need to present both sides fairly.” Bullshit. Absolute, complete bullshit.
Because here’s the truth: sometimes, one side is wrong. And not just wrong, but dangerously, catastrophically wrong. And if you give that side equal time, equal weight, you’re not being fair. You’re being complicit.
I remember covering a city council meeting back in 2008. There was this one guy, let’s call him Dave. Dave was a local business owner, and he was convinced that the city’s new recycling program was a communist plot. I kid you not. A communist plot. And the local paper, they gave him a platform. They let him spout his nonsense, unchallenged, unchecked. And they did it because they wanted to be “fair.”
But fairness isn’t about giving equal time to every crackpot idea. Fairness is about telling the truth. And the truth is, most of the time, one side is right and the other side is wrong.
But What Can We Do?
So what’s the answer? I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. But I do know this: we need to stop pretending that the news is some kind of objective, perfect thing. It’s not. It’s messy and complicated and, frankly, kinda broken.
And we need to start holding ourselves accountable. As journalists, as consumers of news, as human beings. We need to demand better. From ourselves, from each other, from the institutions that are supposed to inform us.
And maybe, just maybe, we can start to fix some of the physicaly and emotional damage that’s been done.
Look, I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy. It’s not. But it’s necesary. And honestly, it’s kinda our only shot at saving what’s left of our committment to truth and democracy.
So let’s get to work.
And while we’re at it, if you’re gonna shop for anything online, check out this online marketplace comparison review first. You’ll thank me later.
Anyway, I’m gonna go have a drink. Or five. It’s been that kinda day.
About the Author: Sarah Johnson has been a senior editor for various major publications for over two decades. She’s seen the industry evolve, devolve, and generally drive her up the wall. When she’s not editing, she’s probably complaining about the news on Twitter or drinking whiskey neat. She lives in Portland with her cat, who is judging her constantly.
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