Show Little rays of hope amid the gloom James Rainey RaineyL L Times When en Brian Williams asked at the end of the NBC Nightly News three weeks ago for viewers to send along good news he couldn't have imagined the thousands of mails e-mails that would pour into the network overnight The resulting stories on acts of kindness in inthis inthis inthis this cruel economy have made NBC the most visible of many media outlets pushing to give audiences some good news amid bad times The trend-bucking trend efforts might have the public wondering What took so long Id I'd say a bit of the good goodnews goodnews goodnews news deficit comes from the misguided conviction among some news people that happy endings and serious journalism dont don't mix But Id I'd lay some of the blame with audiences too Theres There's more good goodnews goodnews goodnews news out there than you have recognized Lets Let's start with one of the most basic tenets of journalism that news is what we dont don't expect We pull out our notepads for the unexpected Man bites dog Plane cartwheels off the runway Jon Stewart goes Mike Wallace on an interview subject To that old rule most big big- outlets apply a corollary that a a. a complete paper or newscast must include a amix amix amix mix of breaking news and features of photos and words covering subjects both trifling and transcendent Most networks cable outlets and big newspapers try to c cover ver the entire spectrum but their highest hearts really soar for the weighty heavy stuff That means lots of focus on J 9 dark stories regardless of whether they hint at at a resolution or even even much J J. J h hope ope investigative reporter Frank Greve of McClatchy newspapers talked about the queasy reaction he got from some colleagues a couple years ago when he announced he would start a good news beat Some of my old friends when I told them what I Iwas Iwas Iwas was doing reacted as if Id I'd told them I had cancer Greve told the Poynter Institute a nonprofit school for professional journalists Most but not all of those reporters encouraged Greve when they saw he still reported and wrote with rigor Greve has noted how delayed licensing of drivers has driven down the teenage accident rate Hes He's written about how many old people remain sexually active Hes He's raised doubts about whether we should really need to worry about pharmaceutical contamination in drinking water That list of topics might seem like a podge hodge-podge but theres there's a common theme Bad news grows out of conflict Good news often means just following the conflict through to a resolution It might seem counterintuitive counterintuitive counterintuitive counter counter- intuitive but Id I'd argue one of th the best good news stories in the Los Angeles Times in recent years was about a grizzly bear attack My colleague Tom Curwen painstakingly detailed how a father and daughter struggled to survive the pounds of raw fury that bore down on them in Glacier National Park His follow up paid particular attention to how the daughter fought l to regain her equilibrium Without st struggle and Toss loss ss wed we'd lose resilience and hope That's been the theme of the Making a Difference reports that have concluded many NBC Nightly News shows this month Williams told me it was his wife Jane who recommended a counterpoint to the drumbeat of bad news We were having one of those table kitchen-table discussions and she said the other part of this story is what everyone has taken on themselves how they're doing more to help Williams said The managing anchor editor of the top-rated top Nightly News called the response from viewers incredible Among the panoply o of f do- do NBC has profiled a town small-town Alabama pharmacist who gave out in 2 bills to his employees requiring them to prime the local economy with the money the Kansas trailer-hitch trailer manufacturer who sent recession-idled recession employees out to fix ball fields homes and churches and the Denver restaurant that offered free or rate cut-rate meals to those who couldn't pay full price Even a hard-bitten hard newsman had to be moved by some of those tales and the thousands of dollars of donations and new volunteers they inspired Id I'd guess that most newsrooms in the country have talked about how to tomake tomake tomake make the economic calamity real but not overwhelming Every reporter out there has heard from a friend or neighbor that they just cant can't take much more bad news At the Bakersfield Californian newspaper executive editor Mike Jenner talked with business editors a couple I months months' ago go about not recycling foreclosure and unemployment statistics Its going to be bad for a awhile awhile awhile while and we dont don't need to repeat all these numbers breathlessly Jenner said Jenner has also got every reporter and editor in the room on the lookout for upbeat stories Last weekend the papers paper's local section featured a spread about workers who love their jobs In New England the Cape Cod Times has taken to writing full stories on new businesses rather than the briefs it once presented Editor Paul won wona a small concession the other day getting the paper to torun torun torun run a front page photo of the first spring crocuses in bloom He had to fight off an argument from at least one other editor who preferred something from Iraq Said There is something to be said for offering a little bit of inspiration in dark times tunes Many commentators are making a living now channeling peoples people's fears and rage That's nice for blowing off steam but will willit it make anything better Not long ago I got an mail e-mail from a guy who wondered if the Los Angeles Times would write about his parents on their wedding anniversary That once might have provoked a quick from me Mr Serious Now Im I'm thinking the story of a seven-decade seven marriage must include a afew afew afew few lessons about surviving I hard times I asked the proud son to send me more information II |