Objective Facts, Subjective Feelings, and Artificial Inception
- Johnette Cruz
- Jul 8
- 7 min read
Behind The Filter: After Dark Edition
When Reporting the News Triggers the Inbox Trolls
As a news anchor covering Indianapolis, statewide Indiana, and national stories, my inbox is usually a chaotic place. Lately, I’ve had to ignore my DMs entirely because it gets so overwhelming. Between the comment sections and random message requests, it’s a recipe for major anxiety. Plus, I know there are people who genuinely need help with investigative stories, and right now, I'm just too booked and busy to give them the attention they deserve.
But the other day, I made the mistake of opening a random message.
A public official here in Indiana recently made some controversial statements regarding the Muslim community and Islam. Naturally, an Islamic group sent our newsroom a press release responding to it. My job is simple: I grab press releases, put them out, and let the public see them. It is unbiased reporting.
Well, the comment section exploded with over 300 intense, faith-driven arguments. Then came the DM from a woman who knew me from the 8 years I spent working in church ministry. Her message read:
"Knowing you from [Church], I think you need to do some research on this topic. I am free to chat if you would like... As Christians, we need to be careful of Muslim theology."
I was furious. Excuse me? I didn't state an opinion. I posted a press release.
I wrote back real quick: "I don't need research. I'm a news reporter. I share press releases and news that is in my inbox... It is not my job to give them a narrative. I report non-biased news without my views."
She never responded, and I blocked her. It is so frustrating when people treat subjective feelings as objective facts. As Christians, we are called to love, not to sit and judge or attack people. We’ve become a society where we can't look at things objectively anymore. Everyone puts themselves as the subject of every story. If a headline says "women hate cooking," you don't need to fight in the comments just because you love cooking! Not every conversation is about us.
The 24-Hour Whiplash: "You're the Best" to "Bitch, You Suck"
Ashley chimed in with her own Facebook DM horror story. A woman reached out frantically on a Saturday afternoon asking for help investigating a personal story, calling Ashley "the perfect anchor" to bring it to the world.
Saturday: "I need your help, you're the best, I'm desperate."
Sunday (24 hours later): "It's been 24 hours and you haven't responded. Maybe you shouldn't tell my story. Bye."
Sunday Night: "You know what? I'm never listening to WIBC again. You are the worst news anchor ever."
Bitch, it was the weekend! People forget that behind the public profile is a mom spending time with her kid, not staring at a filtered "Message Requests" folder. The internet gives people insane balls. They would never say these things to your face.
Snatched Faces & Shifting Perspectives on Marriage
On a lighter note, Ashley gave us a major beauty update. If you noticed her face looking incredibly tight and "snatched" lately, it's not magic—it's a Glassy Diamond Facial (an upgraded Hydra Facial) combined with lymphatic drainage and cupping. For anyone dealing with an autoimmune disorder, the constant inflammation is real. Look at the before-and-afters; it literally brought the life back to her skin.
This tied perfectly into a Get Ready With Me TikTok Ashley posted recently about going on a first date. In the video, she openly expressed that at 39, she still wants to get married and try to be a mom. The comments section was flooded with women asking: "Why do you want to be married? Focus on yourself!" and "You can have a baby without a man!"
It sparked an amazing conversation about how marriage trends are changing in the US:
Nearly 47% of US adults are unmarried.
The average age for a first marriage has climbed to 29 for women and 31 for men.
For the first time in modern history, birth rates among women in their 40s exceed birth rates among teenagers.
Women aren't necessarily giving up on love; they are just no longer rushing into it. The question has shifted from "How do I get married?" to "Is this relationship actually making my life better?"
A Virgin Mary, In Vitro, and Eating Our Words
While a lot of commenters tell Ashley, "You don't need a man to have a baby," she points out a vital missing piece: desire. Yes, that path is valid, but it has to be what you actually want.
Ashley: "I've always wanted to be a mom. But I've always wanted to be a wife first. That's just been what my heart's wanted... For me, I've struggled with becoming a mom outside of becoming a wife, and it is something I'm praying about."
Navigating single motherhood far from family is a massive mental load. Growing up, choosing to be a single mom wasn't even on the radar. But as you get older, those hard, black-and-white lines slowly fade into gray. Then, you throw in the ultimate twist:
Ashley: "Then you throw in the whole fact that I'm a virgin and getting IVF and having a baby before I even have actual intercourse... I'm like, ugh!" Response: "That would be the next thing you go viral for! Artificial inception. You'd be the Virgin Mary!"
Whether it’s exploring adoption or rewriting the script, navigating your late 30s means learning to eat your words. We never thought we'd be living with our parents at 39 or hitting these wild detours. But as the saying goes: Every time we make a plan, God laughs because He has something more. (Though honestly, Lord, let us know the plan soon, because we are tired of the effort!)
New York Outlaws "Mother" and "Father"?
Speaking of motherhood, we had to dive into a massive national news story brewing out of New York. The state legislature sent a highly controversial bill to Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's desk that aims to completely scrub traditional gender terms like "mother" and "father" from state law.
If signed, the law will officially replace the word "mother" with "gestating parent" and "father" with "non-gestating parent." Other statutory updates include changing "paternity" to "parentage" and swapping "putative father" for "alleged parent." Proponents argue it’s meant to protect and accurately reflect diverse family structures—like same-sex couples, adoptive families, and surrogacy arrangements. Republicans, meanwhile, blasted it as an out-of-touch distraction.
Honestly? It just confuses things so much. If you have two moms, you have two moms. If you have two dads, you have two dads. Why make it offensive? Are we going to have to say "Happy Gestational Parent's Day" now?
It feels like an absolute mountain out of a molehill. We have horrific things happening in the world—human trafficking, sex trafficking, violence right across the street in Indianapolis—but the government wants us fighting over vocabulary. As Kim Kardashian’s iconic meme goes: "Kim, there are people starving in Africa." It feels exactly like that. It’s a classic government distraction tactic so they can pass whatever they want while we're arguing over paperwork.
Aliens, Federal Decoders, and YouTube Prophecies
Speaking of distractions... what's next? The UFO files? The Epstein files? Let's just distract the population from a massive elite pedophile ring by dropping a few files about aliens!
Welcome to the unmedicated ADHD portion of the episode, because Ashley and I are secretly the biggest conspiracy theorists alive. We go all the way down the rabbit holes. Lately, we've been down an deep alien wormhole following a girl online who claims to be an approved translator for the Intergalactic Federation. She literally decodes their "tongues" into English, asks them if she got the words right, and then drops global updates. (None of her predicted dates have actually happened yet, but Bob from the Federation keeps giving updates, so I'm still tuned in!)
I have been falling asleep every single night to a YouTuber named Brandon Biggs. He is a deeply spiritual guy who claims God gives him visions—and yes, he is the exact guy who went viral for predicting that Donald Trump would be shot specifically in the right ear months before it happened.
Whether you're religious or just spiritually intuitive, you know that deep prayer can reveal things. He predicted the current geopolitical tensions with Iran and Israel way before they unfolded. It’s a wild rabbit hole, but hey—at least his prayers lull me into a sweet slumber every night.
Is the National Bedroom Dry Spell Real? (And Why You Need to Move to Miami)
To wrap up this completely chaotic episode, a new study dropped from adult boutique Babeland exploring whether where you live impacts your intimacy levels.
Alarmingly, modern life is cooling things down across the country. Only 30% of American adults are currently having sex at least once a week—a massive nosedive compared to the 1990s. But a few US cities are successfully beating the national dry spell by combining low stress levels, high dating app activity, and a dense volume of romantic spots.
The top cities keeping the spark alive:
Miami, Florida (Score: 99/100): Boasting low mental distress scores and over 305 romantic venues. Happy, physically fit people getting plenty of Vitamin D.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: A total shocker given the freezing weather and intense local news over the last few years, but young professionals and corporate headquarters keep the dating scene thriving.
Atlanta, Georgia
Boston, Massachusetts
Cleveland, Ohio: Rounding out the top 5 with cheap, couple-friendly boutique hotels.
And the worst place to find romance? Oklahoma City, which suffers from a severe shortage of date-night venues and the highest stress levels in the country.
So, if you're struggling out here in Indiana... maybe it's time we pack our bags for Miami? (Just definitely not Minnesota. It's too cold.)
Watch or listen to the full episode below!
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~J
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