I can’t do it anymore. I can’t read the news. Journalism is dead. And that makes me a sad panda.
If you read my last post which can be found here, you may think of me as some sort of psycho hack writer that doesn’t care about people, and I wouldn’t blame you. After going back and reading it myself nearly a month later, I can say that I was definitely blinded a bit by frustration and anger. I’m not sure I believe everything I wrote that day because, honestly, I don’t know what to believe.
And why is that you ask?
Because journalism is dead. I already told you. Keep up.
Everything the media and the news puts out is designed to scare you. Here’s a quick example: USA Today posted an article with an eye-catching headline that 5,000 people per day were expected to die from Covid-19 by August 1st. I knew it was clickbait but I read it anyway. Turns out the article is actually about a three-pronged model some company projected and the 5,000 per day death toll was the worst-case scenario.
USA Today, a highly respected publication that has been around for nearly forty years, used the worst-case scenario in that article as a headline to lure people in. Why? Because ad revenue and clicks are what drives the news in the modern world. It’s no longer about being right or even honest. Now, will that 5,000 per day death toll come to fruition? We won’t know unless we get there. But USA Today wants you think the worst because that’s what keeps you coming back to read their slop.
The news is negative by nature, always has been. It’s a matter of comparison for people. The average healthy person that consumes news about the pandemic can rest easy because it might not be directly affecting them, especially if they’re still working. They can look at the TV and say to themselves “Well, at least it’s not me.” And that, in turn, makes them feel better, even if only on a subconscious level. They can come back the next day and get the newest bad news and keep chugging along.
We are attracted by train wrecks, especially when we’re not in them. On the other side, when we consume news about a single person who has dedicated their entire life to fighting hunger in Africa, we can’t handle it. It doesn’t move the needle or drive revenue. Why? Because maybe we ate an entire pizza the night before and this person trying to make a difference in the world just makes us feel like shit. Nobody wants to feel that way, right or wrong.
The internet and the 24-hour news cycle killed journalism a while ago. Somewhere along the way opinions and news became interchangeable. It took a global pandemic to bring everything to the surface.
So, what do you believe? My advice: none of it. Believe only what your eyes can see. Stop reading and/or watching the news. You’ll be happier.
This too shall pass.