Too much “good news?”
Posted by: Crystal Noble on: November 18, 2009
Last week, one of my colleagues told me about a troubling conversation she’d had with a reporter. I’ll avoid going into full details to protect the innocent, but basically my colleague pitched a “feel good story” about a small, local nonprofit. It certainly was not breaking news, but also far from a stretch to think it stood a chance of being covered (especially considering some of the reporter’s previous articles). The reporter told my colleague that he could not write about the organization….or any other nonprofit organization for that matter. There were just too many groups doing good in the world to justify writing about one.
Ummm….excuse me? Did I hear that correctly?
If it’s true that there are too many “doing good” to justify choosing one to write about– then why do we see stories like this? Why did NBC Nightly News launch a “Making a Difference” feature just this year…created at the request of its viewers, no less? And why is there an entire Good News Network, dedicated to covering all things positive and inspiring?
I’m not asking for reporters to play favorites with nonprofits and those that are doing good, but clearly there is a demand for “good news.”
Don’t get me wrong. News organizations today are facing tremendous amounts of pressure, particularly financial pressures from declines in paid subscriptions– which in turn leads to staffing cuts, and more work for those that are left in the wake. This clearly hampers the liberties individual reporters have with the topics they can cover.
But does that mean that they should dismiss an entire genre of story? Why cast aside anything heartwarming or inspiring because you “can’t justify” writing about just one example? What happened to judging a story based upon its own merits?
I’d really like to think this was just an isolated example, and that there is still room for coverage of “good”—especially considering my line of work, and the fact that so many of my clients are “groups doing good.”
Is there still room for stories that cover one organization doing “good?” Or is there too much of it out there?
~Crystal
4 Responses to "Too much “good news?”"
November 27, 2009 at 10:16 pm
“Too much “good news?””
Happy Black Friday! (Shopping:-)
Not all reporters are like that. A great example, Anderson Cooper on CNN. Yesterday I watched Anderson Cooper’s “Hero’s” on CNN. Just incredible stories. Kudos to Anderson. We need more reporters like him. If you get a chance and they re-show this episode of Anderson Cooper’s Hero’s, watch it. He is one reporter that does his part on many of the of things he covers.
Now, perhaps, we as people need to put our own stories out there in forums like this. If we all added and acknowledged people who are making a difference or groups doing great things, why can’t we put that information out there, and right here? Do we really need to rely solely on the media when we have so many resources right at our computers?
Here’s 2 examples of people doing great things on Thanksgiving that I applaud. I know some of these people personally who are really doing their part in my city, San Francisco. Why don’t we all contribute here. There are so many people who, if they look into themselves, are hero’s, and, also know’s a hero.
Something to ponder…..
Copy and paste the 2 links below and you’ll see 2 different stories of a few of my hero’s who are making a difference.
http://cbs5.com/local/Thanksgiving.Meals.Homeless.2.1336021.html
http://www.stanthonysf.org/blog/?tag=thanksgiving
November 27, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Michael, thanks for the great post. I couldn’t agree with you more about Anderson Cooper’s coverage. In fact, as you might have seen, I posted about CNN’s Heroes on Monday here: http://bit.ly/8Qrq94.
While citizens have the power to advance the good stories — and as you know, they/we are — the reality is that good old fashioned traditional news media still commands the lion share of eyeballs and still sets the tone for what people are exposed to.
I think that ever so slowly, the tide is turning. Happy holidays!
December 23, 2009 at 3:50 pm
[...] Last month, I wrote about a run-in with a reporter that had ceased covering organizations doing good because there were too many to choose from. Since [...]
November 21, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Great Article!
Keep up the good work:-)