The News We Deserve

The role of journalism today stands at a crucial crossroads, particularly in small towns and communities like ours, as the world is overwhelmed by the noise of social media and sensationalism. The journalist today is not merely a conveyor of events, but a custodian of public interest, a professional often caught between the urgency to report what attracts attention and the deeper obligation to uphold truth, context, and ethics.

News is not just about reporting events, crimes, or daily occurrences. While these remain part of the profession’s duty, true journalism lies in unearthing the hidden – the policies that shape our lives, injustices that remain unspoken, and decisions taken in closed rooms that ripple into public consequences. Journalism must dig deeper than headlines and serve a higher cause: informing citizens so they may question, act, and decide with awareness.

The tension between clickbait culture and ethical journalism is real. With every viral post that prioritizes shock value over substance, the line between news and noise blurs. Yet, the fundamental purpose of journalism remains unchanged – to seek objective truth and to hold power accountable without fear or favour.

At a time when graphic crimes trend faster than nuanced reporting, the journalist’s role becomes even more vital – not to ignore the ugly realities, but to provide context, compassion, and clarity.

Journalism, then, becomes a balancing act: between informing and inciting, between urgency and accuracy. Ethics must remain the spine of the profession. In the race for views and virality, it is worth reminding that someone’s pain is not your gain. Journalism must never feed on grief; it must serve with dignity.

But journalism doesn’t operate in a vacuum. A community gets the journalism it demands. If citizens settle for sensationalism, that is what will thrive. If they expect critical, courageous reporting, and support it – through readership, dialogue, and accountability – that is what will grow. The media reflects society’s expectations and priorities. In this way, the relationship is mutual and inseparable.

Journalism, therefore, lies not only in newsrooms but also in living rooms. Real journalism begins when both the journalist and the citizen commit to truth – and hold each other to it.

MT