What the recent boom in positive news tells us about the future of journalism
In March 2020, Google searches for “good news” spiked and continued to rise throughout the year (T. Lorenz, 2020). The branch of journalism meeting the desires of good news-seekers is led by publisher Positive News and is known as constructive journalism. Its objective is to inspire readers with solutions to issues rather than reporting endless problems. In 2020, a year of global uncertainty, Positive News saw an increase in online traffic and traditional newspapers rushed to compete. This evidences a boom in public desire for constructive news. Does this trend signal a change in the future of journalism?
It has taken a long time for newspapers to acknowledge constructive journalism. In 1993, BBC presenter Martyn Lewis suggested that the news was too grim and called for a balance of good and bad news, however his comments were ignored (M. Rice-Oxley, 2020). Positive News was established in that same year. In 2012, Lewis repeated his beliefs after observing the positive shift in national mood during the London Olympics (C. Cahalane, 2012). Then, in 2018, the Guardian began its Upside series, stating that journalists were waking up to the need for constructive journalism (M. Rice-Oxley, 2018). This shows that constructive journalism has long been called for and had started to trickle through in recent years. Why is it that journalists have now woken up to constructive journalism?
The advent of social media newsfeeds has led to ‘doomscrolling’; which means people feel like they cannot escape the constant bad news on their devices. This term shows how people have become aware of their bad habits. In 2019, a study showed that over a third of people in the UK actively avoid the news, with 60% blaming its negative mental impact (J. Granger, 2019). In recent years (perhaps not incidentally), companies have started to put mental health awareness at the forefront of their policies. It is therefore logical that if newspapers want to thrive in the digital era, they should avoid only providing news stories that damage the reader’s mental health and take a more balanced approach.
However, it was the arrival of Covid-19 that really caused the sharp increase in constructive journalism. Throughout 2020, mainstream news publishers seemed eager to meet the public desire for positive news caused by the onslaught of negative news. National Geographic created two good news-themed newsletters. Editor David Beard stated that the demand for positive news was unlike anything he’d seen before (T. Lorenz, 2020). The Washington Post created The Daily Break which highlights an uplifting story each day. Celebrities have also caught onto the trend, with actor John Krasinki launching his YouTube series Some Good News. Within one week, it reached over 1.5 million subscribers. Positive News’s content has naturally become responsive to the pandemic, with its current headline reading “Hitting the pandemic wall? 10 ways to cope as the Covid crisis continues” (Purdy and Fahey, 2021). We can therefore see how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for the spread of constructive journalism.
There are concerns that ‘fluffy’ news stories and too many good news stories about coronavirus can act as a diversion from government failings (G. Green, 2020). As newspapers with a political agenda such as Guardian, The Telegraph and Daily Mirror start to report constructive news, it may be wise to question their motives. It is possible, therefore, that some newspapers will use the new trend to distract from certain stories that the public ought to be aware of.
It seems that the need for constructive journalism, as predicted since the 1990s, has finally been recognised by the public, and newspapers have met the demand. However, with the end of lockdown in sight and vaccines being delivered, is this just a temporary trend? Sean Wood of Positive News disagrees, stating that people now have an “increased awareness of constructive news” which will “cause more people to question negative news being the default” (G. Green, 2020). Indeed, with the term ‘doomscrolling’ now in popular usage and mental health problems taking a front seat in public consciousness, it seems unlikely that the demand for positive news will disappear following the pandemic.
Bibliography:
Cahalane, C., Martyn Lewis: ‘Media should report solutions’, Positive News (2012). [Online] Available at: https://www.positive.news/society/media/martyn-lewis-media-report-solutions/. [Accessed 23/02/2021].
Granger, J. 2019 Reuters Digital News Report finds that trust in the media continues to fall, Journalism (2019). [Online] Available at: https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/reuters-digital-news-report-finds-that-trust-in-the-media-continues-to-fall/s2/a740147/. [Accessed 27/02/2021].
Green, G., How coronavirus is putting solutions journalism in the spotlight, Journalism (2020]. [Online] Available at: https://www.journalism.co.uk/news-commentary/how-coronavirus-is-putting-solutions-journalism-in-the-spotlight/s6/a755654/. [Accessed 28/02/2021].
Lorenz, T., The News Is Making People Anxious. You’ll Never Believe What They’re Reading Instead, NY Times (2020). [Online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/style/good-news-coronavirus.html. [Accessed 23/02/2021].
Purdy, L. and Fahey, D., Hitting the pandemic wall? 10 ways to cope as the Covid crisis continues, Positive News (2021). [Online] Available at: https://www.positive.news/lifestyle/health/hitting-the-pandemic-wall-10-ways-to-cope-as-covid-continues/. [Accessed 23/02/2021].
Rice-Oxley, M., The good news is … people like to read good news, Guardian (2018). [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/but-first-here-is-the-good-news-. [Accessed 23/02/2021].
Rice-Oxley, M., The man who told the world that news should be more optimistic, Guardian (2020). [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/27/sir-martyn-lewis-good-news-bbc-constructive-journalism. [Accessed 23/02/2021].
