Ios swift – Optional string showing nil

TableViewController:

import UIKit

class NewsTableViewController: UITableViewController {
    var newsItems: [NewsItem] = []

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        tableView.register(UITableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: "NewsCell")
    }

    override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return newsItems.count
    }

    override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "NewsCell", for: indexPath)
        let newsItem = newsItems[indexPath.row]
        cell.textLabel?.text = newsItem.title
        cell.detailTextLabel?.text = formatDate(newsItem.date)
        cell.textLabel?.numberOfLines = 0
        cell.detailTextLabel?.numberOfLines = 0
        return cell
    }

    private func formatDate(_ date: Date) -> String {
        let formatter = DateFormatter()
        formatter.dateStyle = .short
        formatter.timeStyle = .none
        return formatter.string(from: date)
    }

    override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        let newsItem = newsItems[indexPath.row]
        let alert = UIAlertController(title: newsItem.title, message: newsItem.content, preferredStyle: .alert)
        alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
        present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
}

Update to add NewsListViewModel

import Foundation
import Parse

class NewsListViewModel: ObservableObject {
    @Published var newsItems: [NewsItem] = []

    func fetchNews() {
        let query = PFQuery(className: "News")
        query.order(byDescending: "updatedAt")

        query.findObjectsInBackground { (objects, error) in
            if let error = error {
                print("Error fetching news: (error.localizedDescription)")
            } else if let objects = objects {
                let fetchedNews = objects.compactMap { object -> NewsItem? in
                    guard let title = object["title"] as? String,
                          let date = object.updatedAt,
                          let description = object["description"] as? String else {
                        return nil
                    }
                    return NewsItem(id: UUID(), title: title, date: date, content: description)
                }

                DispatchQueue.main.async {
                    self.newsItems = fetchedNews
                    print("Fetched (fetchedNews.count) news items")
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

I really have no clue what’s going on here. I get objects from Parse, it shows them in a table view controller, and when I tap a row it opens a sheet. The sheet is supposed to display the content of the news item, which is from the key description. For some reason, it jumps straight to the else statement of the if let.

struct NewsAndAlertsView: View {
    @ObservedObject private var viewModel = NewsListViewModel()
    
    @State private var selectedNewsItem: NewsItem? = nil
    @State private var isPresentingModal = false

    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            if viewModel.newsItems.isEmpty {
                Text("Loading news...")
                    .font(.headline)
                    .padding()
                
            } else {
                NewsListView(newsItems: viewModel.newsItems) { newsItem in
                    print("Selected News Item: (newsItem.title)")
                    self.selectedNewsItem = newsItem
                    self.isPresentingModal = true

                }
            }
        }
        
        .navigationBarTitle("News & Alerts", displayMode: .inline)
        .onAppear {
            viewModel.fetchNews()
        }
        .sheet(isPresented: $isPresentingModal) {
            if let newsItem = self.selectedNewsItem {
                VStack {
                    Text(newsItem.title)
                        .font(.largeTitle)
                        .padding()

                    Text(formatDate(newsItem.date))
                        .font(.subheadline)
                        .padding()

                    Text(newsItem.content)
                        .padding()
                    
                    Spacer()
                }
                .padding()
                .onAppear {
                    print("Sheet Title: (newsItem.title)")
                    print("Sheet Date: (formatDate(newsItem.date))")
                    print("Sheet Content: (newsItem.content)")
                }
            } else {
                    Text("No News Item Selected")
                
            }
        }
    }

When I’ve done debug for self.selectedNewsItem I get this:

Optional(ChurchApp.NewsItem(id: 2ECF3231-2DB9-4F28-8B4C-6DC1305D50B2, title: "Test", date: 2024-08-06 02:07:05 +0000, content: "Just a test"))

Again the issue seems to be related to the if let newsItem = self.selectedNewsItem { line of code. But as I’m new to Swift, I’m lost.