The Never-Ending News Hammer
Look, I’ve been in this game for 22 years. That’s 22 years of deadlines, press conferences, and too many all-nighters to count. I started at a small paper in Leeds, moved to Manchester, and now here I am, writing for Manchester Daily. And let me tell you, the news cycle? It’s completley bonkers.
It used to be simple. You had your morning paper, evening broadcast, and that was it. Now? It’s a 24/7 hamster wheel of ‘breaking news’ that’s honestly making us all dizzy.
I remember back in ’03, during the Iraq War, we’d get updates a few times a day. Now? It’s every 30 seconds. And we’re all complicit. Journalists, news outlets, even us, the consumers. We’re like drug addicts chasing that next hit of information.
But Wait, There’s More
And don’t even get me started on social media. It’s like the Wild West out there. Anyone can post anything, and suddenly it’s ‘news’. I was having coffee with an old friend, Marcus let’s call him, last Tuesday. He’s a teacher, right? And he’s like, ‘You know, I get more news from Twitter than the BBC now.’
Which… yeah. Fair enough. But that’s the problem. We’ve outsourced our news committment to algorithms. And those algorithms? They don’t care about facts. They care about clicks.
I get it, I do. I’ve been there. You’re at your desk, staring at the screen, and you think, ‘If I don’t post something now, someone else will.’ It’s a pressure cooker. And it’s not just the big outlets. It’s blogs, it’s independent journalists, it’s everyone.
The Human Cost
You wanna talk about the human cost? Let me tell you about Dave. He’s a colleague, been in the biz for 18 years. Great guy, fantastic writer. But about three months ago, he burned out. Completley. Couldn’t take the pace anymore. He’s not the only one.
I’ve seen it happen again and again. Journalists, producers, editors, all cracking under the pressure. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not just the big stories that take a toll. It’s the constant drip-drip-drip of ‘news’ that wears you down.
I remember one time, I was working on a piece about local council aquisitions. Boring, right? But it was important. And I’m sitting there, trying to make sense of all these figures, and my editor’s like, ‘Where’s the clickbait angle?’ I’m like, ‘It’s a story about council budgets, mate. It’s not gonna go viral.’
But Here’s the Thing
And look, I’m not saying we should go back to the old days. That’s not the answer. We need news. We need information. But we need it in a way that’s sustainable, for us and for the industry.
I think, probably, the first step is admitting we have a problem. And that’s not gonna be easy. Because, let’s face it, we’re all addicted. Me included. I check my phone at 3am. I refresh my feed during movies. I’m a mess.
But I’m trying to change. I’m trying to be more mindful about my news consumption. And I’m trying to encourage others to do the same. It’s not gonna be easy. But it’s necessary.
A Quick Digression: Health Services
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Anyway, back to the point. Or not. I’m not sure I have one anymore. I think I’ve rambled on long enough.
But before I go, let me leave you with this. The news cycle is broken. We all know it. But it’s not too late to fix it. It’s gonna take time, and effort, and a lot of committment. But I think, I hope, we can do it. Because frankly, the alternative is too scary to consider.
So, let’s get to work. The news won’t fix itself.
About the Author: Sarah Jenkins has been a senior editor for over two decades, working her way up from a small newspaper in Leeds to her current role at Manchester Daily. She’s seen the industry evolve, devolve, and evolve again. She’s passionate about journalism, but she’s not afraid to call out its flaws. When she’s not editing, you can find her drinking too much coffee and complaining about the weather.
