Good news is out there. The problem is that we are not looking for it.

People amuse me. Sometimes, there is no comparison to human dignity and kindness, and many other times, I am amazed at how people react to much of the absurdity of life.

People, who know me, know that I am amused at those who like to claim that there is no good news in the world. They see the world as a smorgasbord of sickness, crime, corruption and hate, and then lament how there is nothing good. I take an exception to this. I contend that the view that there is nothing but bad news in the world is more of a reflection of us rather than the news.

If you feel like there isn’t any good news, it might be because you are only seeing what you want to see, which is more of a reflection on your worldview rather than the news itself. Case in point;

I run the social networks at the station I work at. Doing this (for no pay) has allowed me to get a glimpse into how many of us react to things on an everyday basis. Over that time, I’ve noticed that stories which are considered “bad” in nature (crime, courts, accidents) get more comments, likes and shares than those that are “good” (community events, kids etc.) and many times this is an absurdly amount more.

In the last week, we posted to our networks a number of stories which are considered to be not as hard hitting, and perhaps even “good”. Stories included pictures from the county Easter Egg hunt, our all night call in request show, a visit that the boy scouts took to our station and a retirement announcement for a longtime county official.

All these are good stories, and while they got some traction online, compared to other news they were merely drops in the bucket. Three stories in particular got my attention. A car rolled onto its top in the City of Kenton a couple of weeks ago, the Amish hearing on whether they should be forced to install modern septic systems, and today, a report of a shoplifter at Ace Hardware who was unfortunate enough to get caught on video.

Nothing earth shattering, nor really outside of the ordinary, but to see the reaction online, you’d think each one of these stories were the hardest hitting pieces of news you’ve ever seen. Shares, comments, and the nature of the comments astound me. I also love how people will inevitably see stories like this and resort to sayings like “Only in Kenton” or “Man, this town is going downhill fast” which makes no sense whatsoever when you see the other stories that get covered.

Seriously, there is good news out there. Some of us make efforts to showcase it, and report on it. It exists. I take exception to those who claim there is no good news. That’s a reflection of your values more than the news itself.

An interesting thought isn’t it?