Author | Reese
I’m really getting sick and tired of seeing the type of content that NewsBreak is allowing on its platform. I originally looked at NewsBreak as a place where people could go to find local stories, breaking news, community information, and content that actually had some purpose behind it. Lately, though, I find myself scrolling through the platform and wondering what exactly happened. Some of the videos I’m seeing don’t feel like news at all. They feel more like random social-media reaction content that I would expect to find while scrolling through YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram.
One creator I’ve come across, GridIron Heroics, has posted videos featuring women whose bodies appear to have been altered or generated with AI, including exaggerated body proportions. Then there is commentary about these women that, from my perspective, comes across as objectifying them rather than providing any meaningful news or information. When I see something like that on a platform calling itself NewsBreak, I genuinely have to ask: What is the news value here? What exactly am I supposed to be learning from this? Why is this being placed alongside actual stories about things happening in our communities and around the country?
What makes this even more frustrating is that NewsBreak’s own published standards say the platform is supposed to focus on credible and relevant information, and its guidelines address altered media, sexualized content, harassment, and misleading material. NewsBreak also promotes its Contributor Network as a place for journalists and local creators to share important stories with their communities. That makes me question even more why content that appears to have very little informational value is showing up in the first place.
I understand that platforms need to make money. I understand that views, advertising, engagement, and clicks matter. NewsBreak even has a video creator program where eligible creators can earn based partly on qualified views and advertising value. But at some point, a news platform has to decide what it wants to be. Is it trying to build credibility as a place where people can find useful information, or is it trying to compete with every other social-media platform for whatever content can generate the most engagement?
AI is already becoming such a huge part of the internet, and I don’t believe every use of AI is necessarily bad. But when we reach a point where artificial images and videos are being created simply to exaggerate women’s bodies and generate reactions, I think we should be asking where the line is. Real women aren’t objects. They shouldn’t have to compete with artificial versions of women created to have unrealistic bodies just because somebody thinks that will generate more views and comments.
From a real-life viewer’s perspective, it makes the entire platform feel less valuable. I don’t open something called NewsBreak because I want to see pointless AI-generated videos and people commenting on women’s bodies. I go there because I expect NEWS. There are thousands of real communities, real people, real problems, real businesses, real events, and real stories that could use that exposure.
Maybe I’m not the only person noticing this. Has anyone else noticed a change in the type of content showing up on NewsBreak? Do you still consider NewsBreak primarily a news platform, or is it slowly becoming another general social-media platform?
