I’m Tired of Fake Breaking News
Look, I’ve been in this game for 22 years. I started at a tiny paper in Iowa, moved to a mid-sized daily in Chicago, and now I’m here in Lagos, writing for Lagos Daily. And lemme tell ya, the news cycle? It’s completley broken.
It was last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin (yeah, I know, weird place for a Nigerian publication, but that’s a story for another time), and I heard this guy, let’s call him Marcus, say something that stuck with me. He said, “The news isn’t about informing anymore. It’s about engaging. And engaging is just a fancy word for outrage.”
Which… yeah. Fair enough.
I mean, think about it. When was the last time you saw a headline that wasn’t designed to make you click, to make you angry, to make you share? It’s all sensationalism, all the time. And honestly? It’s exhausting.
I remember talking to a colleague named Dave about this, over coffee at the place on 5th. He said, “You know what the problem is? It’s the algorithims. They reward outrage. They reward engagement. They don’t reward nuance or complexity.”
And he’s not wrong. But that’s not the whole story. We’re all to blame here. Us, the media. You, the audience. We’ve created this monster together.
But What About Real News?
Don’t get me wrong, there are still good journalists out there. There are still people trying to do the right thing. But they’re drowning in a sea of clickbait and fake news. And it’s getting worse.
I was talking to a source last week, let’s call her Aisha. She told me, “You know what’s worse than fake news? It’s the lack of local news. Nobody’s reporting on the things that actually matter to people’s lives.”
And she’s right. We’re so busy chasing the latest outrage that we’re forgetting to do the basics. We’re forgetting to cover the school board meetings, the city council decisions, the stuff that actually affects people’s lives.
I mean, look at the Vermont jobs vacancies openings situation. Nobody’s talking about it. It’s a real issue, affecting real people. But it’s not sexy enough for the news cycle. So it gets ignored.
A Personal Anecdote
About three months ago, I was at a wedding in Lagos. I ran into an old friend, let’s call him Emeka. He’s a teacher, a really good one. And he said something that stuck with me. He said, “You know, I used to read the news every day. Now? I can’t even look at it. It’s all just noise.”
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? The news is supposed to inform us. It’s supposed to help us make sense of the world. But instead, it’s just noise. It’s just a bunch of voices shouting at us, trying to get our attention.
And we’re letting them. We’re letting them because we click. We’re letting them because we share. We’re letting them because we’re complicit in this whole mess.
So What Do We Do?
I’m not sure. Honestly, I’m not. I think the first step is admitting we have a problem. The second step is probably supporting journalism that actually matters. The kind that informs, that educates, that holds power to account.
But look, I’m just one guy. I’m just one voice in a very loud chorus. And frankly, I’m not sure anyone’s listening.
So maybe the answer is to just turn it all off. To go for a walk. To read a book. To do something, anything, other than consume the endless stream of outrage that passes for news these days.
I don’t know. What do you think?
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I’m gonna go find a quiet place and read a book. Maybe I’ll see you there.
About the Author:John Doe has been a journalist for 22 years, working in various roles across print and digital media. He currently serves as a senior editor at Lagos Daily, where he writes about the intersection of technology, politics, and society. When he’s not writing, he can be found reading, walking, or complaining about the state of the news industry.
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