Triggers, Part I

I’m in therapy at least once a week. Even if not explicitly stated, many of the conversations revolve around triggers--events, moments, or scenarios that cause feelings of anger, anxiety, or frustration. These triggers can make my content biased. I don’t believe that makes it less genuine, but for the sake of transparency, I’m going to explain the triggers I struggle with the most. This will be a multi-parter, starting with...

The News

The game is dominated by analytics and search engine optimization (SEO). Editorial rooms want to see what people are searching for in Google, notice trends, and identify keywords. If it feels like what you’re reading online has been concocted in a lab, there’s a good chance it was (minus the beakers and safety goggles).

Analytics and SEO aren’t “bad” things. In fact, they actually present opportunities to innovate. Unfortunately for the news, it often leads to click-bait and over-saturation over fears of missing out. The human element is secondary.

It’s a shame. This could be the best time to be a reporter: with a smartphone and laptop and a decent understanding of how to use public transportation, one could run her or his own mobile newsroom. The problem, as ever, is funding that operation. I am not an expert on why local news has become virtually non-existent in some areas, but it’s not hard to speculate.

A concerned citizen likely doesn’t have the capital to support an editorial staff. Local advertisers probably won’t think the juice is worth the squeeze, with free tools like social media available. And those who sit atop city and town pyramids have little incentive to learn more about what things look like at the ground level.That’s not conspiracy; it’s human nature.

I believe not giving a shit is a human right. There are certain things I don’t give a shit about. But that’s what attracted me to the news in the first place. Part of a journalists role is to educate the public. What I experienced, and what I see a lot of now, is the equivalent of teaching to the test. It serves a purpose in small doses, but if universally embraced, a lot of important information is going to slip through the cracks.

I try to avoid the news but it’s impossible. I see it all over the place and it’s hard to look away. I’m frustrated by how many other stories aren’t being heard and how reporters are dis-incentivized to cover topics that haven’t been searched--or might not be searched--enough in Google. This is a bastardized version of the “work smarter, not harder” approach. It’s giving readers what they expect to see rather than advancing the conversation.

It reminds me of being an addict. It’s easier to use and get a fix than deliberately trying to do something else.