The 2 Biggest Reasons Journalists Are Just As Clueless As You

Here's a little secret if you didn't know it already: Journalists are just as clueless as you are about politics, the economy, and whatever else is happening in the world.

(Well, many journalists are—there are some good ones out there.)

Anyway, many journalists who position themselves as authorities on the subjects they're reporting on are usually not much more informed than you are. This should explain why the reports you read are so shallow and why journalists often make fools of themselves.

As someone who has worked in a newsroom, I've come up with two main reasons why journalists are just as clueless as you, and both have to do with the cultures created by media outlets among their employees.

1. Overly Tight Deadlines

When I was working for a news website, one of my first big assignments was to write about some alleged hiring bias taking place in a local elected official's office. However, I had no previous knowledge about that local government, the official in question, or the context surrounding the situation. Naturally, my editor wanted to publish by the end of the day.

That kind of thing was a normal occurrence while I worked there.

Newsrooms are sometimes so focused on getting the first scoop on a story that the person who wrote it is still mentally piecing together the details after the article's been published. Necessary research can't be done, sources can't be reached for comment, and the reporter can't do their overall due diligence before sending in articles about potentially career-ending scandals and important policy issues.

When the publishing schedule is too demanding, either the publishing schedule should be changed or someone else needs to handle the story. It's that simple.

2. Editorial Biases

Pulling from my experience in a newsroom again, I had an editor who was more concerned about telling his side of a story rather than focusing on stating the facts and being balanced when approaching contentious issues.

In the heads of many editors, the story is already written, and it's the reporter's job to merely go and find the pieces to put it together before the assigned deadline. But if you're like me, you believe journalists have an obligation to the truth first and foremost. And the truth isn't always (usually never) in the form of a 500-word article submitted before 5 p.m.

In other words, journalists are oftentimes not finding the truth but receiving it from their bosses and then instructed to parrot them after cherry-picking a couple of agreeable sources.

I'll admit these two reasons put most of the onus on the newsroom and not the reporter, so let me qualify everything I just said—journalists can be just as guilty of chasing overly tight deadlines and writing the story in their heads before they know all the details. But overcoming these problems is a step any news writer, editor, or publisher can take toward real, ethical journalism that serves the public.

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Matthew Giffin is an independent journalist based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Follow him on X and send him story tips at matthewgiffin2002@gmail.com.

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