The ‘dogged’ hunt for some good news out there
It is easily the question I have been asked more times than any other in the nearly two decades I have been sitting in this chair.
“Why is there so much bad news in the Daily Times?” is the way it usually goes.
It is a perfectly legitimate question.
Luckily, I think I have a pretty good answer.
That’s what people read.
The numbers don’t lie. Hey, I’m no math whiz. I spent eight years under the firm tutelage – and iron first – of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary studiously poring over the Baltimore Catechism and avoiding math and science at all costs. I went on to work with words – not numbers – for a living.
But even I can see what the numbers tell us when it comes to what piques people’s interest.
Put a good story about some local kids in the paper, and aside from the parents and extended families of those involved, people will ignore it in droves.
Put in two graphs about a fatal car accident, and readership goes off the charts.
That does not mean we ignore what some people would call “good” news, or stories with a bit happier details.
In fact there was a time when we reserved an entire page of the Saturday paper for such “good” news stories. That is no longer the case. The business has changed, some would say not for the better.
We now feed a 24-hour beast of a news cycle. It can be overwhelming at times.
Yet I still think I have a pretty good eye for news. And that includes “good” news. That is why I had a reporter track down the couple who got engaged Friday night during their meet-andgreet with pop superstar Taylor Swift.
That story had what I like to call “sizzle.” Of course, having a photo of the happy couple with the Berks County native and pop music icon didn’t hurt.
I’m not immune to what can seem at times like the overwhelming “downbeat” of our daily news cycle. We could all use a few more smiles. And that includes during your daily perusal of the newspaper (for your few die-hards who still swear by the print edition, God bless your souls!) and voyage through the online world we slog through every day.
Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age. Or maybe the negative nature of the business is starting to wear on me.
Is it just me, or do we not laugh anymore? I don’t mean smirk, or giggle. I mean all-out belly laughs. Seems like we used to laugh a lot more. Back before we spent all our time arguing about politics.
That’s one of the reasons I started a new daily feature. I call it Today’s Upper: A Slice of Good News to Start Your Day.
Each day I scour the Internet to find something notable – and hopefully upbeat – that occurred on that specific date. I post it on my Twitter and Facebook accounts every weekday morning.
Seems like I’m not the only one seeking a few chuckles.
In the few weeks I have been doing this feature, it has proved wildly popular. Now I have to figure out a way to get that feeling into print.
Call it my personal effort to provide a little balance in the news we present every day. I understand I am setting myself up for a few more slings and arrows, likely from people in my own industry. We tend to be a cynical, crusty bunch who do not much tolerate the kind of nonsense that often passes for “news” on our local TV stations. I have no intention of doing that. But I wouldn’t mind providing a few more smiles every day either. I have been writing tabloid headlines for 36 years, so I have no problem admitting that some of those headlines are done for no other reason than the response they will undoubtedly generate.
Now I’m going to expound on that just a bit. Each weekday I have taken on the mission to deliver a smile to your face. Lord knows I do more than my share of the other, creating frowns from one end of the county to the other.
Like what you might ask? Well, for instance one day last week I used the feature to note the passing of someone who served up millions of laughs over the years.
Yes, I know, talking about someone’s death does not seem at first glance to qualify under the heading of “Today’s Upper.”
But I eventually got around to the point.
You might not know his face, but you certainly know his voice.
I marked the date we lost the great Mel Blanc back in 1989.
Don’t know who Mel Blanc was? Think Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Blanc supplied the voices for all those great Warner Brothers cartoon characters we loved as kids.
Still don’t know who he was? All I can reply to you is this: “What a Maroon!” Hope you’re resting well, Mel. “That’s all, folks!” On other days I might note a song that was popular back in the day. Or the fact that it is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.
Another day I noted it was the birthday of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson. This is the way I introduced it: Genius is an overused term. Not in this case.
Then I provided a link to a recording of “California Girls.” All these years later, that intro still just kills me. You get the idea. None of them are ever going to win a Pulitzer. That’s not the point. I look at it as therapy. Every day I sit here and watch what I post online devolve into the ugly partisan bickering that dominates our national conversation.
To be honest, most days I’m looking for an escape.
Today’s Upper is one part of it. I hope you enjoy them. If not, simply post a comment and tell me what I can do with them. Everyone else does. In the meantime, just call me Geoffrey. Yeah, the giraffe that served as the mascot for the defunct toy store Kids ‘R’ Us is no longer around. His motto was that he would “turn those frowns upside down.”
Atta’ boy, Geoffrey. Philip E. Heron is editor of the Daily Times. Call him at (484) 521-3147. E-mail him at editor@delcotimes.com. Make sure you check out his blog, The Heron’s Nest, every day at or http://delcoheronsnest.blogspot. com. Follow him on Twitter, @ philheron.