Talking Joints Memo reposted this
I've been in media for long enough to know the unfortunate truth that people mostly want to read about pain, suffering, and bad things in general—and not always the important negative stuff, like war or housing coverage. They just like bad things happening to people who are like them but who aren't actually them. There's just no getting around it. That was the case before the internet and it will never change. As a reporter and editor with integrity, one of the last few left as I see it, I absolutely refuse to give people what they want. It's essentially the last thing that I care about. I'm on the beat, it's my job to know what's important. I am a dinosaur and I do the opposite of what 99% of outlets do, which is piggyback trending articles hoping to ride the wave to clicks. At Talking Joints Memo and every other place I've ever run, we report the stuff that we feel is cool and important, and we do the best job of it that we can. That means clean copy, solid fact-checking, and jokes that connect where that plays in. And guess what - it works. At TJM, we climb month after month after month and watch flashes-in-the-pan tank with their IG accounts. But even with that approach, you can't beat reality, which is that people like the negative stuff. And so here are some key words and phrases from the headlines of our biggest stories of the year ... "Tough Month" "Systems Crash" "DEA Agents Confiscate" "Off Rails" "Destroy" "Tension And Confusion" Thanks for reading. I can't even believe these numbers we are seeing as the year closes. More year-end roundup stuff every day through the end of the year ... and then look ahead stuff ... https://lnkd.in/eH8KH3Ns