MY return to the news media was less like a phoenix rising from the ashes and more like an obese, underground-dwelling rodent-like animal coming out of hibernation—not because winter had ended but because its insatiable hunger had overpowered its desire to stay all warm, comfy, and fat.
The media I returned to is not the media I left. The newspaper is no longer king. Gone are the days when people relished clearing space or properly angling their bodies to read through the paper. Gone are the days of black ink-stained fingers. Eliminated is the need to wait until the next morning to discover the happenings of the day before.
Digital media rules the roost now. All online, all on your phone, exploding in real time. It is safe to say that most people get their news through social media, whether it’s via Facebook, TikTok or Instagram. TikTok tends to get the largest engagement, especially from the rapidly increasing tech-savvy generations… and elder millennials like myself who have been forced to adapt.
This naturally concerns me, because a 30 second video should really be seen as a teaser and should act as a catalyst for one to read the attached article on the news website, not taken as the whole story.
But hey, it’s a well-known fact that people do not like to read. They didn’t when I first started as a reporter for the Guardian and they still don’t, now that I am engaging in my early midlife renaissance period as reporter/videographer/photographer… because, yeah, I do all those things. And AZP News, where you are reading this column, is giving me this opportunity.
Therefore, it is not surprising that now more than ever, people do not trust the media.
Quick story, I remember walking back to the Guardian building from an assignment at the Red House, as I turned onto St Vincent Street some rando jumped out of nowhere and screamed at me, “How do you sleep at night, knowing all you do is lie!”
Sir, I sleep fine. Just because I asked a question you didn’t like or didn’t think appropriate, or reported on something that made your Parliamentarian idol appear more galvanise sheet than golden calf, doesn’t make me a liar or some anti-government/opposition traitor.
No matter how fair you keep things, or what questions you ask, there will always be some numbskull who will cry and scream about the biased media. There will always exist some ding-a-ling who will stand on a soap box, hiding behind their keyboard, bumping their gums about the media being owned by the nefarious cabal of wheel greasing corporate villains, to push propaganda for the party they finance… long watery stueps.
Are there journalists who sometimes show their personal bias? Probably. Is that unethical? Definitely. But those are far and few and from my experience they do not tend to last long.
Getting a story and ensuring that both sides are equally represented can be difficult, because surprise, surprise, government officials aren’t the most eager people to get a response from, especially when dealing with accusations or scandals. So, what happens? Deadlines come and the story is published as is. It’s not ideal and I can tell you, I hate when I do not get both sides because for me, it means the story, my story, is incomplete. All because phone calls, WhatsApp, emails, and knocks on doors went unanswered.
Hell, even to get a comment on something not controversial at all, something that would make them look good, can be a chore. I’ve been chasing two ministers all week with no avail.
Crime reporters get it just as hard. They depend on getting information from the relevant authorities and sometimes they can get two different names, situations, etc from the same source.
You cannot please everyone
The thing is journalism is hard. You must have a thick skin, because no matter what you report, you will always be subjected to someone’s opinion, accurate or not. It’s always someone on the internet, who thinks they can do a better job than you but based on their posts it’s clear they cannot even string a proper sentence together.
Despite it all, however, most of us sleep very soundly at night. Our thick skins keep us warm.
