I’ve Had It Up to Here with ‘Balanced’ Reporting
Look, I’ve been in this game for 22 years. Started as a cub reporter for the Crawley Gazette back in ’99. Back then, we had deadlines, yeah, but we also had time. Time to check facts, time to talk to people, time to actually understand what was going on before we wrote about it.
Now? Now it’s all about speed. Churn out stories, get clicks, move on. And don’t even get me started on this ‘balance’ nonsense. You know what balance gets you? Boring, uninspired, completely useless journalism. (Which, honestly, is most of what you see today.)
Let Me Tell You About Marcus
Last Tuesday, I ran into an old friend—let’s call him Marcus—at the café on High Street. Marcus used to be a reporter, good one too. Now he’s some corporate comms guy. We got to talking about the state of news, and he said something that stuck with me:
“You know what kills me? That we used to care. About the truth, I mean. Now it’s all about engagement metrics and algorithms.”
Which… yeah. Fair enough.
I mean, honestly, who even knows what’s true anymore? And don’t give me that “both sides” garbage. Some things are black and white. Like, if someone’s lying to your face, you don’t need to give them equal time to keep lying. But that’s exactly what most outlets do. It’s exhausting.
The Internet Has Ruined Everything (And I Don’t Mean Just Journalism)
Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But come on, the internet has changed everything. Back in the day, you had to actually go out and talk to people. Now? You can just tweet some nonsense and call it a day.
And don’t even get me started on social media. I had a colleague named Dave who swore by it. “It’s the future,” he’d say. Well, Dave, guess what? The future sucks. It’s full of trolls and bots and people who think a 280-character rant is a substitute for actual thought.
But here’s the thing: it’s not all bad. The internet has also made it easier to find sources, to connect with people, to get information out there. It’s just… yeah. It’s a mess.
What Can We Do About It?
I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I mean, I have my thoughts, but I’m not sure they’re any good. Maybe we need to go back to basics. Talk to people, check facts, write stories that actually matter. But in this climate? Good luck with that.
One thing I do know is that we need to stop pretending that every story has two sides. Sometimes there’s one side. Sometimes there’s a hundred. But it’s never as simple as “he said, she said.” And if you’re a journalist, it’s your job to figure that out.
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Anyway, I’m rambling. The point is, the news is broken. And until we start caring about the truth more than we care about clicks, it’s gonna stay that way.
But hey, what do I know? I’m just some old reporter who’s probably out of touch.
About the Author: Jane Doe has been a journalist for over two decades, working for various publications across the UK. She currently writes for Crawley Daily and lives in Crawley with her cat, Mr. Whiskers. She’s opinionated, loves a good debate, and is always up for a chat over coffee.
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