Why So Much of the So-Called News You Read on the Internet is Trash

No offense to you know, actual trash

Photo Credit: Jordan Beltran on Unsplash

Note: My references are to secondhand sites referred to me through my Google News Feed and not to any stories or any writers on this platform

Every day I wake up and read. I typically start the morning off with a few chapters of my latest book of choice. Usually — regrettably — I end up browsing different sites, platforms and “news” outlets for stories that interest me. However, the offerings and options seem to be getting worse by the day.

The combination of over-saturation, our society’s obsession with political correctness and astounding ability to become offended over virtually anything, click-bait, and this generation’s definition of what qualifies as entertainment has completely ruined the state of internet news and reading.

Add in the lack of originality of so many writers and their insatiable desire to cater to their readers, rather than say what’s on their mind or what they actually think — and you are left with the dumpster fire that is the state of internet reading and writing.

I have been seeing essentially the same story, written over and over again by different writers, about Eminem’s daughter Hailie Mathers. What she was wearing at the beach that day or in her latest Instagram post — is not news.

Yet the stories are written on a weekly if not daily basis and end up in my Google Newsfeed. The same goes for anything Beyonce does, including what she wore on her way to — anywhere. Frankly, I’m beyond disappointed and disgusted. To even be loosely grouped in with the folks who write these stories is downright demeaning to me. They are everything I’d never want to be.

These “writers” degrade the craft and belittle genuine writers who actually have something to say. They’re demoralizing to the journalists who put themselves at risk every day, reporting on and publishing actual news stories.

There are no risks taken, no vulnerability — and no actual news being reported. To make matters worse, barely different versions of the exact same headline lingers at the top of dozens if not hundreds of different nonstory stories, across outlets, sites, blogs and platforms…