Every night before I go to bed, I read several newspaper websites. Every morning, I listen to National Public Radio on my way into work. When I arrive, I scan the day’s Associated Press and Hearst wire headlines. All this searching is an attempt to find the news that will interest Thumb-area readers.
As a community paper, we give preference to community news; therefore, we don’t have a lot of space for national and world news. When we run stories from the wire, especially on the front page, I want them to matter to the readers. Unfortunately, that means we have to ignore many stories that readers might find interesting just because they are entertaining or are about something that simply makes the world a little brighter. We don’t see many of the truly “good news” stories.
Often, even if we did have the space within the newspaper, good news is hard to find. The files of wire stores are always given a short name designed to give editors a gist of what each story is about. Today, I got to choose among files titled “Financial Meltdown,” “O.J. Simpson,” “Train Collision,” “Ike,” “Internet Scam” and “Bridge Collapse.” How depressing. In the dozens of wire stories that have streamed into the Tribune office during the past few days, only a couple could be considered even remotely cheerful.
When I was named editor a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to give readers a chance to see those rare stories that actually make people smile. When I locate a “good news” story on the wire, I’ll post it here. I’ll also include links to stories I find on the Internet.
Readers can help, too. If you find a story that brightens your day, leave a link to it in the comments section.
I know seeing these stories won’t make the bad ones go away, but it’s nice to know there are still good things happening in the world.
