Paul Berton: Seeking good news amid the bad can be a challenge
Why do people like bad news?
Readers of The Spectator repeatedly tell us they want more good news in the paper, but we know from centuries of experience and a great deal of research that, alas, bad news sells.
You need look no further than nightly television broadcasts or Netflix programming - beyond the uncomfortable misadventures on so-called situation comedies, it is well near impossible to find anything that doesn't involve murder and devastation.
They don't keep making murder and mayhem movies for nothing.
Nonetheless, at The Spectator, we try to maintain a mix. In a news meeting Thursday, for example, we realized Friday's front page was simply too bleak.
We were beginning Nicole O'Reilly's two-part feature Devastating Consequences: What is lost when young men choose gun violence" with a touching photograph of a mother and her late son. As well, we had another O'Reilly piece, The Random Victim," about another tragic murder.
Add to that a necessary COVID story and it's not the brightest day.
So we added Scott Radley's piece about a powerlifting grandmother who is set to compete with her granddaughters in a championship. Fun, bright, well-written. Something to inspire us all.
But inside, some more bleak headlines:
Those are, of course, only the local headlines. It doesn't include news of the world, which is often more bleak.
Once they're elected, for example, politicians hardly ever do anything good, at least as far as half of us are concerned. Pandemic news is not yet encouraging enough to brighten many days; the economy is uncertain; hate seems ever more pervasive; the climate is changing; and too many people are homeless.
But there is lots of good news and, contrary to some appearances, we seek it out. Such as a story this week by reporter Maria Iqbal about a local family finally reunited after fleeing Gaza.
And then there are those that are both good and bad, depending on your view. The new minimum wage is either too much or not enough. There are lots of jobs available, but not enough people to fill them.
And finally, those stories that defy categorization: the world's largest potato discovered in New Zealand.
Paul Berton is editor-in-chief at The Hamilton Spectator. Reach him via email: pberton@thespec.com