In a world of mostly discouraging and plain bad news.

In an environment where the overused term “fake news” is beginning to lose its real meaning.

In a political environment where we hear the most important man on earth calling the press “the enemy fo the people”.

In the midst of all that, it is refreshing to read positive, good news anytime we can get it.

Which is why I was delighted to see Page 2 of the Saturday, August 11, print edition of The New York Times.

In a column aptly called Journalism in the Upbeat, the headline was The Week in Good News.

The report begins with an intro that reads:

Sometimes it seems as if we’re living under a constant barrage of heavy news. But it isn’t all bad out there. This feature is meant to send you into the weekend with a smile, or at least a lighter heart.  Here are five things we wrote about this week.

What’s the good news? As I said earlier, these are all seemingly inconsequential items, with an ephemeral “feel good” moment.

Examples:

–Scientists are creating plastics that can break down on command….

–A village in India has become a model of clean living….

–There’s now a medal to honor the military service of dogs…

–Senegal is aiming for the stars (a movement is afoot to improve the country’s scientific and technological prowess…)

–An Ohio teacher set a record for rowing alone across the Atlantic……

Broccoli and fruit smoothies

I often mention in my workshops that newspapers in whichever platform have an obligation to inform and to entertain.

With informing comes the duty of the editors to tell us about stories that are not necessarily the ones we would choose to read (from politics to science to health), but which we need to know about. Sort of like broccoli: you may not like it, but you still remember your mother telling you you had to eat it.

At the same time, it cannot be all broccoli.  The good editors know that a nice fruity smoothie is always welcome, and even essential.

“Give them the broccoli and the banana/kiwi smoothie,” I remind editors in my workshops.

This new column by The New York Times, which I assume will appear on weekends, is a delicious smoothie that I know readers will appreciate as much as I have.

Recently, the biographer and journalist Anne de Courcy, was quoted about where she gets her information and her favorite books. This is what she said:

“Enormously long books, too heavy to hold when I am reading in bed, are a no no, nor do I ever read thrillers, detective stories or murder mysteries—they just don’t interest me. Besides, I get all the mayhem I want in the newspapers.”

Well, this column shows it does not have to be.

Let’s hear it for the power of the press

On Thursday more than one hundred newspapers in the US will publish editorials defending the press and emphasizing the importance of watchdog journalism that protects democracy.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/11/media/boston-globe-free-press-editorial/index.html

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