Look, I’ve Had It
I’m Martha, senior editor at Iowa Daily, and I’m pissed. Pissed at the state of news, pissed at my colleagues, and honestly, pissed at myself for staying quiet for so long. It’s 2023, and we’re still chasing the same old breaking news cycle like a bunch of headless chickens.
Let me take you back to March 15th, 2021. I was at a conference in Austin, sitting with a colleague named Dave. We were talking about the future of journalism, and he said something that stuck with me: “Martha, we’re not reporting news anymore. We’re just reacting.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
And look, I get it. We all wanna be first. We all wanna break that story. But at what cost? Last Tuesday, I was at the office late, and I saw our social media guy, let’s call him Marcus, frantically typing away. I asked him what was up, and he said, “Just gotta get this out before anyone else does.” I asked him what it was about. “Some local politician had a minor car accident,” he said. I mean, come on. That’s not news. That’s gossip.
We’re All Guilty
I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just as guilty as the next person. Remember the time I stayed up till 11:30pm to edit a piece about a minor celebrity feud? Yeah, me too. But we gotta stop. We gotta stop letting the need to be first dictate what we cover.
And don’t even get me started on the comments section. It’s like we’re all just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. “More engagement!” they say. “More clicks!” But at what cost to our integrity?
I talked to a friend of mine, Sarah, about this. She’s a professor at the University of Iowa. She told me, “Martha, you guys are like ambulances chasing accidents. You’re not preventing anything. You’re just cleaning up the mess.” Ouch. But fair.
What’s the Alternative?
So what do we do? We slow down. We think. We ask ourselves, “Is this really news, or are we just reacting?” And if it’s the latter, maybe we should reconsider.
And listen, I’m not saying we should ignore breaking news entirely. But we should be more selective. We should be more thoughtful. We should be more… human.
I’m not sure how to do that exactly. But I know it starts with a committment to change. A committment to quality over quantity. A committment to journalism, not just reactions.
And hey, if you’re looking for some inspiration on how to live a more thoughtful life, check out these yaşam tarzı günlük gelişim ipuçları. I know it’s not directly related, but sometimes a change in perspective can help.
A Tangent: The Weather
You know what else is overrated? Weather coverage. I mean, really. We have to interrupt regular programming for every little rain shower? Come on. We’re not saving lives here. We’re just telling people to bring an umbrella.
But I digress. The point is, we need to be more thoughtful about what we cover. We need to be more selective. We need to be more… human.
I’m not sure how to do that exactly. But I know it starts with a committment to change. A committment to quality over quantity. A committment to journalism, not just reactions.
And look, I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s not. It’s hard. It’s challenging. But it’s necessary. Because if we don’t change, who will?
So let’s start today. Let’s start being more thoughtful. More selective. More human. Because at the end of the day, that’s what journalism is about. It’s about telling stories. Not just reacting to them.
And honestly, I think we can all agree that we could use a little more humanity in our news.
Okay, I’m done. I’m gonna go have a drink. Maybe two. Because frankly, I need it after that rant.
About the Author: Martha Jenkins is a senior editor at Iowa Daily with over 20 years of experience in journalism. She’s opinionated, blunt, and not afraid to call out the industry she loves when it’s doing something wrong. When she’s not editing, you can find her drinking coffee, complaining about the news, or both.
