We hear bad news at every turn, each moment if we check social media feeds constantly. Everything that could go wrong is going wrong in western culture, it seems, and in the outside world. But is this true?

Ninety percent of news in newspapers and on television is bad news, according to Big Think. That’s no surprise. Our negativity bias, BT goes on to say, means we weight bad news heavier than good news, sadly. The well written Guardian article, linked above, helps us understand the ramifications of  so much negativity.

The trailer for a beautiful article in the June 2018 Oprah Magazine  cites good news that helps dispel many bad news myths. For example, America’s so-called crime ridden cesspool cities are 75% less violent now than in 1993.

Dispelling the “young people don’t care myth” are the statis about Millennials. This segment of the population is healthy: better educated, visits public libraries more, unplugs from tech when vacationing more, donates to charity more readily than any other generation, would take a pay cut to work for a responsible company – and, best of all – 85% believe that helping make the world a better place eclipses achieving professional success.

“Old white guys” really are losing ground. Women, people of colour and other minorities are running for office and holding office in record numbers. “You’ll never see policies that benefit all Americans until you change the policymakers.”, says Emerge America. Very obvious, this has been a long time coming, we weren’t ready for it.

Here are a few ‘Good News’ sights for you:

• The Good News network has light & serious news
• makeuseof.com lists 5 worldwide good news sites
• I love Huff Post. Their link lists 15 uplifting news sites.

Note: With respect to women in leadership roles, in Canada we have Equal Voice, an organization that “promotes the election of women to all levels of government.”

Ellen

Copyright 2018 Ellen Besso

Ellen Besso is a former Life Coach & Counsellor & an energy worker. She is the author of An Indian Sojourn: One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, and Surviving Eldercare: Where their needs end & yours begin, both available through Amazon.