• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg used mortgages to buy multimillion-dollar mansions. Here’s why that’s a savvy financial decision

2

AI CEOs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft set aside their rivalry to warn Congress AI is making it too easy to design and create bioweapons

3

Social Security faces a 24% cut in 2032—that's a $345 billion hit to retirees nationwide, watchdog says

1

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg used mortgages to buy multimillion-dollar mansions. Here’s why that’s a savvy financial decision

2

AI CEOs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft set aside their rivalry to warn Congress AI is making it too easy to design and create bioweapons

3

Social Security faces a 24% cut in 2032—that's a $345 billion hit to retirees nationwide, watchdog says
MPWMost Powerful Women

Looking Back on 2018, Journalists See Mostly Noise

Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 11, 2018, 9:38 PM ET
Fortune MPW NextGen 2018
003 Tuesday, December 11th, 2018 Fortune MPW Next Gen 2018 December 11th, 2018 Laguna Niguel, CA CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2:15 PM WOMEN IN NEWS LOOK BACK AT 2018 It was the Year of the Woman. It was a year of even more political upheaval. And if you work in news, it was a whirlwind. Three top newsroom executives weigh in on the highs, lows, and most memorable moments of covering 2018. Alison Brower, Deputy Editorial Director, The Hollywood Reporter Joanne Griffith, Assistant Managing Editor, Digital, Marketplace Maeve Reston, National Political Reporter, CNN Jessica Yellin, former Chief White House Correspondent, CNN; Founder, #NewsNotNoise Moderator: Leigh Gallagher, Executive Director, MPW Next Gen; Senior Editor at Large, Fortune Photograph by Stuart Isett/FortuneStuart Isett/Fortune

There was one thing everyone agreed upon when they reflected on the noisy news cycle of 2018: Stop covering the President’s tweets.

“Trump is the biggest news story for everybody, “ said Alison Brower, the deputy editorial director for The Hollywood Reporter, speaking on a panel of five veteran journalists at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. on Tuesday.

Jessica Yellin, the former chief White House correspondent at CNN, confirmed that the chaos was worse than in previous years. “It’s more crazy now because there is more noise and the media is in a place where it chases noise,” she says. Click-and-eyeball-obsessed media are an easy target for “a president who is brilliant at exploiting them.”

But the price is a less engaged, more anxious, and under-informed public.

“Analysis means something totally different now,” said Maeve Reston, a national political reporter currently at CNN. As a result, news consumers don’t get enough deeply reported stories or meaningful follow-up from vital ones, like the condition of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. “You are constantly pulled from one thing to the other and it’s hard to have a continual thread,” she said. “Trump drives the agenda in terms of what people talk about.”

Part of the issue isn’t just attention span, the panelists agreed. In a world which is filled with truly difficult news, context is queen. And we need more queens.

Joanne Griffith, assistant managing editor for digital at Marketplace, says social feedback from their audience about breaking news helps them to plan the more substantive stories that they know their audience needs, even if they don’t ask directly for them.

“It’s important to put a stake in the ground,” she says. Marketplace diligently covered what Griffith calls the Four Ts in 2018: Trump, trade, taxes, and tech. But as anxious economic chatter increases, it’s time to dig into the archives. “What can we learn from [the recession] from ten years ago?” she says. “How can we visually tell a story and write original stories for our audience?”

Also top of mind in 2018 was the #MeToo movement, a seismic event which is still reverberating a year later, part of the energy that drove women both to become candidates and to vote. But as the firehose of #MeToo stories took over, reporters rushed to report, assess, and verify them. “Not all the stories are credible,” says Brower, and some are credible but can’t be verified. But she says, “the most important stories are the hardest to tell.”

Which is part of what makes the noise so literally upsetting.

Yellin, a 15-year news veteran said she’d been initially coached to watch ESPN to learn how to cover politics. “I was told to focus on jargon, outrage, competition, and anxiety,” she said of how CNN framed political coverage. Why? It attracts men from age 18-35, a valuable demographic for advertisers.

But that style of coverage is off-putting to other demographics, including women.

Tina Exarhos is the chief content officer of NowThis, a six-year-old social news publisher that focused initially on aggregating news and now plans to produce more longform content. “We are focused on what will connect with young people,” she said. But it also means serving up journalism in Snapchat, a popular platform for young adults to be social and not stressed. “How do you give them good information in a way that doesn’t make them feel anxious?”

Yellin, who is the founder of a new media startup called #NewsNotNoise, says that when information is presented like a sporting contest, it compels women to avoid the news. “How we deliver news empowers men,” she says. “Women feel triggered and less confident.”

 

About the Author
Ellen McGirt
By Ellen McGirt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

Melinda French Gates is done waiting for health care to take menopause seriously
MPWMost Powerful Women
Melinda French Gates is done waiting for health care to take menopause seriously
By Emma HinchliffeJune 5, 2026
2 days ago
Jane Lynch
SuccessCareers
Former ‘Glee’ star Jane Lynch says the secret to career success isn’t a 10-year plan: ‘Life doesn’t care about your timeline’
By Preston ForeJune 5, 2026
2 days ago
‘Nobody knows what they’re doing’ says Michelle Obama  
SuccessMichelle Obama
‘Nobody knows what they’re doing’ says Michelle Obama  
By Sam BirchallJune 5, 2026
2 days ago
Melinda French Gates is betting $215 million on women’s health—and daring her fellow billionaires to follow
MPWMost Powerful Women
Melinda French Gates is betting $215 million on women’s health—and daring her fellow billionaires to follow
By Emma HinchliffeJune 4, 2026
3 days ago
BT’s CEO is bringing football logic to Britain’s digital future
EuropeBT GROUP
BT’s CEO is bringing football logic to Britain’s digital future
By Francesca CassidyJune 4, 2026
3 days ago
What Alix Earle knows about business that many of my Harvard Business School students don’t get
CommentaryFortune Media Network
What Alix Earle knows about business that many of my Harvard Business School students don’t get
By Reza SatchuJune 4, 2026
3 days ago

Most Popular

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg used mortgages to buy multimillion-dollar mansions. Here’s why that’s a savvy financial decision
Real Estate
Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg used mortgages to buy multimillion-dollar mansions. Here’s why that’s a savvy financial decision
By Sydney LakeJune 6, 2026
23 hours ago
AI CEOs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft set aside their rivalry to warn Congress AI is making it too easy to design and create bioweapons
AI
AI CEOs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft set aside their rivalry to warn Congress AI is making it too easy to design and create bioweapons
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 5, 2026
2 days ago
Social Security faces a 24% cut in 2032—that's a $345 billion hit to retirees nationwide, watchdog says
Economy
Social Security faces a 24% cut in 2032—that's a $345 billion hit to retirees nationwide, watchdog says
By Nick LichtenbergJune 5, 2026
2 days ago
The Strait of Hormuz is more open than previously thought as the U.S. shoots down Iranian drones threatening ships and provides 'naval overwatch'
Energy
The Strait of Hormuz is more open than previously thought as the U.S. shoots down Iranian drones threatening ships and provides 'naval overwatch'
By Jason MaJune 6, 2026
7 hours ago
Here's where U.S. debt may become unsustainable with interest payments triggering a default crisis that even steep tax hikes can't fix
Economy
Here's where U.S. debt may become unsustainable with interest payments triggering a default crisis that even steep tax hikes can't fix
By Jason MaJune 6, 2026
11 hours ago
Trump says 'situation with Iran seems to be going quite well' while U.S. shoots down more missiles and drones near Strait of Hormuz
Politics
Trump says 'situation with Iran seems to be going quite well' while U.S. shoots down more missiles and drones near Strait of Hormuz
By Michelle L. Price, Samy Magdy and The Associated PressJune 6, 2026
19 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.