It's ALL an Illusion

I went to a conference in New York a couple of weeks ago for Talk Show radio enthusiasts (hosts, producers, directors, radio station owners, basically anyone involved in Talk Radio). It was both fun and exciting, and painful and depressing.

I saw some of the most famous talkers in the country in one room. I was excited to hear their stories, and when there were no politics, it was a reminder why I love working in radio. But, my blood started to boil as I began googling when some of them spoke.

When they said the country was divided my objectivity kicked in, allowing me to stay neutral. But as story after story, ahem, talking point, was shared, I found myself losing my composure.?

Since I stopped anchoring national news, aka political news, I found some peace. I found that I didn’t want to know every single thing anymore. So, I simply turned on the important news alerts on my phone, just in case some major story broke, keeping me abreast.?

I don’t need to name the hosts, or the topics they bastardized, because let’s face it, it’s more than divided or polarized, it’s downright diametric between the sides. To say one side, the Republicans, or the other, the Democrats, are right or wrong is contrary to everything I was taught as a journalist. There are facts flying at this point. Adding in Artificial Intelligence just explodes the whole thing into a massive conflict of interest.

Back in the day, when I worked at, what is arguably the biggest news network in the world (well for sure in the U-S) as an anchor, one afternoon I needed to know the answer to a question as actual fact. You see, I got to write my own news. So, I was told I could visit the “Prod Room” (named changed for protection). This is where a reporter/anchor or producer sends an email to or chats with researchers to get the answer to a question. It should have been called the Endbrain Room, I had no idea (or didn’t want to know) the lengths they went to “spin” the story. I will not even say what I needed to know for my story, because believe me it was small potatoes compared to what I was reading in the... Spin Room. It only takes 3 words to twist, to make it a new "news" story… according to what I was reading.?

Colleges should stop selling journalism as a major now, because the fact is, it barely exists. Take the story of the “journalists” who were recently caught plagiarizing. Is it really that important to get your name out there? They should be in jail. Who can we trust to source news now? And ahead of this incredibly important, presidential election? What is to stop these writers from using A.I. to help further their cause, or make their “jobs” easier?

It’s all enough to make a real journalist cry in their box of donuts. #forrealz