“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Read that again.
“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”
It’s true. If you walk around expecting the world to be ugly, it will indeed be ugly. If you drive down the road looking for a white car, you will only see white cars.
I believe this with all my heart.
Yet, for the last seven days, I have been looking for good news stories and I’m struggling to find any at all.
Every December, my friend Nichola and I challenge each other to post a positive news story on Facebook every day. We both scour news sites searching for positive news, something uplifting, something remotely happy that might brighten someone else’s day.
Do you have any idea how hard this is?
War, politics, death, sickness, crime, car accidents, poverty – these are the things that dominate the media landscape right now. Of course, this isn’t anything new but it is worse this year than it was last year and significantly worse than five years ago.
When I was a young reporter, I heard the phrase “If it bleeds it leads” more than a few times. Tragedy, war and sorrow have long played better in the media than people living their dreams or performing good deeds.
People like to complain that the media only covers the bad stuff but they don’t want to take responsibility for their own consumption habits.
Did you know that negative headlines have a sixty percent higher click-thru rate than happy or neutral headlines? Since clicks translate to money, media outlets obviously are going to focus on the negative.
If I am LOOKING for good news and can’t find it, what hope is there for everyone else?
Good news is good for mental health. It gives us hope and brightens our day. Bad news is hard on your mental health and it encourages a sense of helplessness and despair.
We need more happiness in our lives. We need more goodness and light. The world around us is dark enough as it is. Why not go looking for the light?
It’s sad that people seem to prefer “oh woe is me” stories. Just look at Facebook.
Well, not my Facebook. I try hard to share things that are uplifting or enrichment. It’s sad, the state of this world.
I think True Crime is a best-selling genre in books, tv and podcasts. Not sure why. Maybe people like knowing their world isn’t that messed up. I don’t watch news anymore because of the negative focus.
I cannot imagine why one would need a true crime podcast when the nightly news is so horrifyjng.
Agree! A forensic genealogist author I read has stared a series involving DNA and cold cases. His stories have so much sick violence toward women that I will not read them. It does not enhance my life in any way.
WHY would anyone want to read that for entertainment?
The first line of your post already made it worth to read, great job, and interesting take! I did not now that the negative media feeds itself.
Thanks John! Most people don’t know that. Just remember that where there is a story or an ad and money to be made, there is someone behind it studying the click data to see what works best.
Now that you know, maybe you can help the world out by clicking more on those good news stories!
Definitely!
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SHARE UPLIFTING STORIES!!!!! Yes, you are making the world a better place to be in!!!
Thank you so much! I do my best!
You’re “injecting” fear into your body by watching the news. As you sit there, what can you do about it? It’s often news from another country, or news from another state. That time spent watching the news could be spent actively helping our own local community (which is really struggling!).
You are exactly right. I believe in staying informed about the world around me but refuse to engage too much. Our local communities are in dire need of our help and attention.