So I just got out of a conference talk from a guy that ran newsrooms for about 20 years and has moved on to other things. The last few years have been basically “get it written, get it out the door and fact check later if time allows”. These people working in these rooms have been cut back 90%+ but are still expected to get the same volumes of articles published as were when there were 10X the staff.
He said it’s completely impossible to do any verification with what they have to work with, and chances are the stories are written before the people involved are interviewed. That’s why he got out.
While I don’t think the lack of quality journalism is all due to OP not paying for it (I have no clue if they do or don’t) but there is a lot of complaining on Lemmy and Reddit about paywalls which is annoying. The idea that people want quality journalism but get pissed off when those journalist and news organizations asked to get paid for it is ridiculous.
The internet has destroyed journalism’s business model. A respected profession has been pauperized. Salaries in freefall, hardly any job security left.
And people who pay nothing (let’s be real, OP is paying nothing) add insult to injury by demanding a higher quality product.
So I just got out of a conference talk from a guy that ran newsrooms for about 20 years and has moved on to other things. The last few years have been basically “get it written, get it out the door and fact check later if time allows”. These people working in these rooms have been cut back 90%+ but are still expected to get the same volumes of articles published as were when there were 10X the staff.
He said it’s completely impossible to do any verification with what they have to work with, and chances are the stories are written before the people involved are interviewed. That’s why he got out.
If true, that’s terrible, imo. Anecdotally, it would explain a great deal.
Yes it would. As would the almost certain fact that you personally choose not to actually pay for journalism, despite criticizing it liberally.
While I don’t think the lack of quality journalism is all due to OP not paying for it (I have no clue if they do or don’t) but there is a lot of complaining on Lemmy and Reddit about paywalls which is annoying. The idea that people want quality journalism but get pissed off when those journalist and news organizations asked to get paid for it is ridiculous.
The hypocrisy and entitlement is infuriating.
The internet has destroyed journalism’s business model. A respected profession has been pauperized. Salaries in freefall, hardly any job security left.
And people who pay nothing (let’s be real, OP is paying nothing) add insult to injury by demanding a higher quality product.
And when we do pay for it (magazines, physical newspapers) it’s over half ads.
What makes you so sure that I would be opposed to paying for journalism?
Are you saying that one’s criticism of journalism is only valid if they pay for it?
I’m not sure I follow your logic. Could you clarify what you mean?