COMMENTARY: Good news may outweigh a diet of the very bad

By Berl Falbaum

This column is the result of a challenge from my daughter, Julie, a passionate and astute student of human behavior.

During a father-daughter dinner, she wondered why the media are all gloom and doom and seldom, if ever, reports good news? Given that her father has been a part of that industry for decades (including teaching journalism for 45 years at Wayne State), she thought I might shed some light on the subject.

As I pondered whether I still should pick up the check, I said, the short answer is embodied in the observation that “if it bleeds, it leads,” which is generally associated with TV news but is an observation which many attribute to the legendary publisher William Randolph Hearst. He recognized that “bad news” sells more newspapers than “good news.”

From their very first class, prospective journalists are taught to look for adversarial situations, unique angles, and contentious quotes. With an eye on having their by-line stories on page one, they salivate to cover the scandal of scandals. Controversy is the plasma of news.

A car crash killing three is a “good” story; one killing seven is a “better” one. A murder mystery will attract media attention; one with a sex angle will prompt more. A politician, like Trump, who spews hatred and anger, will always garner more coverage than one who, at a press conference, comprehensively explains his/her plans for addressing climate change.

There is no mystery about the professional definition of what makes news. A more comprehensive answer would require a format longer than permitted by an 800-word Op-Ed column, so it occurred to me that I might use the rest of my space for reporting on some good news some of which Julie sent me. While it might get me ousted from the journalism fraternity, I may earn some points from Julie.

We’ll start with Trump & Trumpism. There is good news about Trump & Trumpism, you ask? Indeed, there is.

—First and foremost, for seven years, our democratic institutions held firm and steady and did so under extreme circumstances.

—Trump failed in trying to overturn the 2020 election; he has been impeached twice; he faces some 70 felony charges with more indictments likely to come; he
was found guilty of sexual assault in a civil suit.

—-Some 200 January 6 rioters have been sentenced to prison, with many more awaiting trials.

—Just last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged 16 fake electors with felonies related to a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Nessel
charged the 16 signed certificates falsely claiming that they were the rightful electors and that Trump won Michigan in 2020.

—Almost 100 judges and the Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Trump, have ruled against him in major cases.

True, we don’t know how all this will end, but Julie is right: We should celebrate when the opportunities present themselves. And protecting our democracy is no small achievement.

Let’s reflect on some other good news (not involving politics):

First, COVID.

It is reported that we have reached a milestone against Covid: The number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal.

According to the New York Times:

“During COVID’s worst phases, the total number of Americans dying each day was more than 30 percent higher than normal, a shocking increase. For long stretches of the past three years, the excess was above 10 percent. But during the past few months, excess deaths have fallen almost to zero, according to three different measures.”

Good news, indeed, but hardly reported.

Then David Wallace-Wells, the science writer and essayist, tells us that, “Suddenly, It Looks Like We’re in a Golden Age for Medicine.”

Hailing advances in medical research, Wallace-Wells reports: “... it looks like a golden age for new treatments. New trials of breast-cancer drugs have led to survival rates hailed in The Times as ‘unheard-of,’ and a new treatment for postoperative lung-cancer patients may cut mortality by more than half. Another new treatment for rectal cancer has turned every single member of a small group of cases into cancer-free survivors.”

This from the author who starts his book, “The Unhabitable Earth: Life After Warming,” with these seven words: “It’s worse, much worse, than you think.” Maybe he talked to Julie.

Finally, for this column, what about the James Webb Space Telescope which from one million miles from Earth — yes, one million miles — is giving us a look at the universe as never seen before? Scan the photos on NASA’s website, and I guarantee you will literally be left breathless.

Yet, given the media’s silence on this monumental achievement, I doubt that many Americans even know of the telescope’s existence.

If this little bit of good news has eased some depression and you are feeling somewhat more cheerful, don’t thank me. Thank Julie.
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Berl Falbaum is a veteran political columnist and author of 12 books.