There’s a movie out on DVD called “Kung Fu Panda” in which a wise old martial arts master opines that “There is no good news or bad news — there is only news.”
As ridiculous as that might sound to some, it is the philosophy employed by many a journalist. Newspaper people have long prided themselves on reporting the news — good or bad — without prejudice.
My experience is that readers view news through another lens. They differentiate sharply between good and bad. Individual readers often clamor for more good news. But in most cases, bad news sells newspapers, indicating that people really want to read about tragedies and corruption.
I’m simply pointing out that while you want good news, you can’t help but be interested in bad news. It’s human nature to want to pick up the newspaper when the top headline is about a murder, just as it’s human nature to slow down for a look when you pass a car accident or a fire.
When some storage units caught fire one recent evening on Anderson’s north side, I drove out to get a few details for an online update. When I arrived at the scene, I found about a dozen cars facing the fire from the back of an adjacent parking lot. People were sitting in their cars watching the flame or standing near a security fence to get as close as they could.
The power of the fire was awesome, and the effort to fight it was riveting. I couldn’t really blame those people for wanting to watch, no more than I could blame you for wanting to read about it that night online or the next day in our print edition.
Generally, when newspapers compile their lists of top stories from the past year, bad news dominates. You might think that would be the case with 2008 in Anderson, Indiana. Overall, it was a very tough year. But the list we published Dec. 31 was led by two good news stories from our community: Madison County playing an important role in the presidential election, and a new casino opening at Hoosier Park.
I’m proud that our coverage at the time reflected the significance of these good-news stories. When Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama came to town in the spring to campaign, we devoted several pages of coverage. (The same number of pages in each instance, I might add!) And we published dozens of stories about the June opening of the casino, including a special section detailing the first 24 hours of casino operation.
Our reporting on these positive stories and others during 2008 illustrates that we like good news as much as our readers do. In the new year, we’ll renew our commitment to covering the good and the bad. If it makes a difference to our community one way or the other, we want to tell you about it.
Managing Editor Scott Underwood’s column is published Mondays. He can be reached at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com and (765) 640-4845.
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Scott Underwood: Good news played big in 2008
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