Mike CernovichVerified account

Reporters run on adrenaline and cortisol. There's a reason I stepped back from doing a lot of reporting. It is highly stressful, and it's hard on your body. I've detassled corn, worked on junk yards, done manual labor. Breaking news is hard on the body in different ways.

Breaking news has every pressure that our monkey minds don't handle well (read Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers). - Competition to not get scooped. SOURCES usually call late at night, so you have to keep phone ringer on and JUMP UP to take call, lest the source go to someone else.

SOURCES LIE. There's all this mythos about "sources," but they are just people in D.C., which means they are shittier people than average. Sources will lie to you to get a competitor or rival fired. It only takes two sources to run a story. Would two people lie? Often.

Building a source network means you're going out for lots of dinners and drinks. Very hard to stay in shape when you're breaking news, working sources, and taking late-night calls. Oh and yes, women have it worse, cuz drinking is part of the job and sources get handsy.

The background of doing objective journalism under the best conditions is non-stop flight-or-fight responses - Competing for scoops - Sources playing you (feelings of distrust) - Audience press, as they demand MORE MORE MORE (For most part, news readers are ungrateful dicks.)

When you're under non-stop fight-or-flight stress responses, you do the following - Eat fatty + carbohydrate foods, because INSULIN RESPONSE feels good - Self-medicate with alcohol to "bring you down" - Pop adderall as you're feeling burned out. This body tax must be paid.

Stressed out people make mistakes. People who stay up late make mistakes. People moving at a quick pace make mistakes. Every wonder why salesman speak quickly? It's to rush you into making a decision. Journalists must move quick and compete and it's unrelenting.