Spreading the news

Working in the world of journalism I hear the same thing said to me over and over again: “We don’t get paid enough!” Of course that is from my fellow writers and my own subconscious. But another one of the main things I hear a lot of in this field is:

“Why don’t you ever put good news in the paper?”

Maybe you have caught yourself asking a journalist that very question, and you no doubt saw the journalist roll his or her eyes, scoff with disdain, or try to kick you in the shins. And there is a very good reason for that, namely because that is the dumbest question you could ever ask anyone in the media. Why?

We do print good news in the newspaper, that’s why! But good news doesn’t catch your attention so you probably skip right over it. Good news is not interesting, mostly because you probably have no desire whatsoever to read the name of every single eighth grader in your county that made the A-B honor roll. Or to read that some local gardener’s club had a member turn 150 years old or something else as equally boring. Admit it; you skip right over these stories.

Headlines that scream ‘Decapitated head of ex-lover found in wedding cake’ immediately grab your attention, with you practically salivating to read the gory details. ‘Man dies attempting to pogo-stick skyscraper to skyscraper’ is much more interesting than ‘Local charity accepts large check from some corporation trying to offset their greed,’ mainly because no one was killed while receiving or giving the check.

That’s right. People, like yourself, never read good news. Well, maybe you give it a passing glance. But to justify it, you try to push the blame on us, so you can feel better about reading ‘Woman dies trying to electrocute neighbor’s dog.’ But I don’t blame you.

I realize that we are in a “if it bleeds it leads” mentality in the media, but it is because it is you, and others like you, that enjoys reading those type things. But we are all guilty of falling under the spell of sensationalism. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at a little simulation:

You are late for work because you overslept, due to your kid refusing to go to bed at a decent hour, and you are about to rush out the door to drive break-neck speeds on the interstate when you notice the daily paper on your kitchen table. You don’t know why it is there, as your paper carrier quit months ago. But then you remember this is a simulation so you pick up the newspaper, deciding you have time to read one story. Two headlines are near the top of the page. One states ‘Local attorney raped to death by escaped zoo apes’ and the other ‘Forbes names list of top 100 successful people that made more money than you this year.’ Which one do you read?

We both know the answer. You will know every detail, even down to what color the ape fur was that they found lodged in the lawyer’s lower intestines, of the first story. You will probably forget that you even saw the other headline. Why? Because you are infected by the disease that every single one of your fellow men and women are also infected with: being human.

So now you know why you see more bad news than good news when you look at any local publication. You can’t help it. We can’t help it. So why try to change it?

Well, I’m glad that I was able to answer that age-old question for you. Now I have to hurry and get back on deadline to finish writing my story ‘Convicted child molester found torn to pieces at local construction site.’

Hey, wait a minute … that is good news!