These days, we are bombarded with bad news by the mainstream media. We can scarcely open a newspaper or turn on the TV without being faced with the latest “scare-story” about swine flu, or another bank failure, or another trillion-dollars added to the national budget’s deficit. Reports giving dire warning of bad times getting worse and no hope on the horizon tend to be prevalent. It seems as even the mundane stories get a negative spin on them.
Do you, like me, get a headache or feel depressed or stressed after reading your city’s #1 paper? It’s because the constant bombardment of bad news by the mainstream media scares people, cultivating a pessimism that at best doesn’t make life any more livable. Those exposed to negativity on a daily basis tend to fall into agreement with the negativity. For instance, if someone was told every day for a decade that he couldn’t succeed in life, do you think in 10 years he would be successful? Most likely not. It is a constant invalidation and assault on people’s hopes and dreams for a better future. Why expose yourself to it? Shouldn’t it be possible to inform yourself honestly and accurately about the world and affairs around you, without being bombarded with pessimism and negativity?
My pet peeves with the mainstream media is that problems are presented, often hyped, but no solutions are offered. Reports are often generalized, without providing facts or solutions on how to make things better. I find that if you really know about something, it cannot “come around and bite you in the butt.”
As the publisher of a newspaper, I believe it is possible to inform yourself honestly and accurately about the world around you without making yourself feel hopeless about what is going on. Most of the time, things aren’t as bad as they seem. Supposedly, we’re in the worst recession of all time, and on the edge of a depression. But if you look around you, you will see no breadlines or Hoovervilles. You will see people going to work every day, driving their cars, going to Starbucks. I even see new businesses opening on the street where I work! And you bet I report on it!
The purpose of the Tampa Bay Informer is “to improve the community by raising awareness, responsibility and providing solutions to community issues.” Isn’t this what a responsible publication should do?
There has been a lie spread around, that “bad news sells”. Is this true for me? No way! When I mention I produce the “Good News Newspaper”, all I get are positive receptions, even sighs of relief, followed by an eager, “we need that!” People want good news. People want facts.
If you put your attention on negativity, you get negativity. If you put your attention on positivity, you get positivity. It’s that simple. Educate yourself properly. Don’t get your information from biased, pessimistic news channels or papers, serving their advertisers and their ratings best interest, not yours. Get positive, local, good news, from a paper that is working for a better community. It makes a difference.