Will this be my last contribution to the WATWB? By the time the next one rolls around, I should have my new website up, looking so much like this one that you’ll wonder why I bothered. But in my own mind, which is the one that’s kept me company over the years, it’s far more professional and focused. So no messing about with random odds and ends, no matter how positive. Because after all, does it make any difference? Is the world a better place because once a month, I post a good news story?
Well, yes, it turns out that it is. A teeny weeny bit, anyway. According to Jodie Jackson, a research associate at the University of East London, the positive news about positive news is that it works: ‘Readers say that positive news changes the way they see the world and generates feelings of optimism, hope, self-efficacy and a restored faith in humanity.’ It isn’t, she says, a matter of ignoring the bad, but of presenting it in a different light, showing not just the problem but also a possible solution. The important term is self-efficacy – reading about solutions strengthens the belief that as individuals, we can be part of the solution too.
That’s a big contrast with a comment I came across on the Guardian website, following an article about deforestation. The average reader gets up, listens to news/reads paper over breakfast (hit of helplessness) goes to work (no doubt shackled to perpetuating calamity), tries to fit in survival basics during breaks (shopping, ablutions, personal business), then home to the quick dinner and news whilst endless documentaries about shock and horror in the world complete a day that has been subject also to continuous advertising and charity appeals (hit of helplessness). Wow! And that’s the sort of news we’re fed every day. Time, I think, for the average reader to be given some reason to hope.
Hence the Constructive Journalism Project. If you happen to be in Aarhus, Denmark, next month, you can go along to a two-day conference on the topic, where among the speakers will be Steven Pinker. Failing that, you can read my blog. Because I can’t really stop now, can I? Not now that I know it makes a difference.
Thanks to Michelle Wallace , Shilpa Garg, Andrea Michaels, Peter Nena, Emerald Barnes for hosting this month’s WATWB.
I can attest to the “good news” effect. When I read: “So no messing about with random odds and ends, no matter how positive. Because after all, does it make any difference? Is the world a better place because once a month, I post a good news story?” I experienced a physical reaction. My shoulders slumped, I groaned a disappointed, “Oohhh,” and I felt as though I had lost something.
By the end of this post, I was feeling more hopeful and positive than I had at its beginning. That’s a well-written reversal, Curtis!
Thanks for corroborating, Sue. I would be saddened to know I’d caused a shoulder slump, so your positive news lifts mine up too.
It ALWAYS makes a difference. If you and others don’t spread the positive news, people will assume there is none to be had.
Very true, since there’s precious little in the mainstream media. Which is why constructive journalism can play an important part.
Hi Curtis – spreading the good news opens our eyes to what’s going on in other parts of the world … I try and talk about the positive things going on … when I chat with people, discuss ideas and generally live … WAWTB really helps spread good news … we can let others know about it … glad it looks like we’ll continue seeing you – cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary. I’m baffled sometimes by people who are spiteful – it seems an odd way to behave. Whether positive news can change them, I don’t know – let’s hope so!
We need the positive news, Curtis. We need the change of perspective and the balance.
Looking forward to your new website! Jess
Thanks, Jess. I hope the new site will be up to expectations – not least my own!
Reblogged this on A Fistful of Salt – The Novel.
Thanks for being part of the WATWB! I hope you do stick around, though I understand the struggle. It’s been tough finding good news to share, which is really sad, but when I come across that story, that story that just touches your heart, it makes it all worth it. <3
Thanks, Emerald. You’re right it isn’t always easy to come across the stories, even though there are many out there. Hopefully it can make a difference and we’re not just preaching to the converted.
I certainly hope so!
It makes a difference, Curtis. Reading some of the posts each month, meeting some of the people along the way, broadens our perspective and lightens our load. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Simon. Yes, I do think it makes a difference, or at least there’s a possibility it might, a little, to someone. Which is why I’ll find a place for it in the new blog.
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