Do you really want to read some ‘good’ news today?
When are you going to write about some good news for a change? That’s a question every journalist has heard innumerable times, I guarantee it.
The funny thing is, even while people say they want “good” or “positive” news, the most read stories on our websites are of crime. Murders, fires, accidents, shootings, robberies. It’s human nature to be curious about the “bad” going on in our neighborhoods and world.
People don’t believe me when I say journalists don’t think of news as “positive” or “negative,” “good” or “bad.” The news is the news.
We don’t write stories about the thousands of planes that land safely, for example; we do write about the one that crashed. That is news.
Journalists have general guidelines, and one textbook that I used when teaching journalism at Southern Connecticut State University put it this way: “Relevance,
usefulness and interest are the broad guidelines for judging the news value of any event, issue or personality.” (That’s from “News Reporting and Writing,” by The Missouri Group.)
Within those broad standards are more specific elements such as impact, conflict, novelty, prominence, proximity and timeliness.
I’ve been thinking about these basics, Journalism 101 if you will, because I came across a story the other day that delighted me so much, I just have to share it.
The scene is an elementary school in Florida, so there’s no
proximity. The main subject is an fourthgrade boy, so no promi
nence. Maybe a bit of conflict in the form of girls who teased him.
Why is it news? Read on, and let’s talk about it.
For College Colors Day at Altamonte Elementary School in Altamonte Springs, a fourthgrader obsessed with the University of Tennessee wanted to rahrah with a team shirt. But he didn’t have one, so being resourceful he made one. He drew a large U and a T for the university’s logo on a white piece of paper and pinned it to an orange shirt, the Volunteers’ color.
“When the day finally arrived, he was SO EXCITED to show me his shirt,” his teacher, Laura Snyder, wrote on Facebook last week. “I was impressed that he took it one step further to make his own label.”
But by lunchtime, the boy was in tears. Girls at the lunch table next to his made fun of his homemade shirt. He was devastated.
A scenario such as this likely plays out at an elementary school somewhere every day, unfortunately. Not news.
The boy’s teacher, in hopes of raising his spirits, wanted to buy him an official University of Tennessee Tshirt, and asked friends on Facebook whether anyone had contacts with the school who could “make it a little extra special for him.”
Quickly, the Facebook post went viral among Vols fans, with many supportive comments. This led to the University of Tennessee stepping in to send the boy a package full of swag and clothing.
“You all have taken this above and beyond what I had ever imagined,” Snyder wrote on Facebook.
The fourthgrader was delighted and there are pictures of him with an orange shirt and the No. 1 on the back.
“He proudly put on the jersey and one of the many hats in the box,” Snyder posted. “All who saw had either goosebumps or tears while we explained that he had inspired and touched the lives of so many people.”
The story, this far, might not have made news up here in Connecticut. It’s sweet, but is it news?
First listen to what happened next.
The University of Tennessee adopted the fourth grader’s handdrawn logo.
“Share in a Florida elementary student’s Volunteer pride by wearing his design on your shirt too!” the university’s official campus store tweeted.
Demand for the fourth grader-designed Tshirt was so high that it crashed the university’s online shop Saturday.
More than 50,000 shirts were ordered. A portion of the proceeds of the $14.99 Tshirt sales would go for antibullying programs, the university said.
“When I told him that his design was being made into a real shirt and people wanted to wear it, his jaw dropped,” Snyder said. “He had a big smile on his face, walked taller, and I could tell his confidence grew today!”
The only drawback is that the teacher did not name the boy nor show his face on social media posts. I checked the local newspaper for Altamonte Springs, the Orlando Sentinel, and though they reported on the story they also didn’t name the boy. I would have, if I had that information by deadline. Once it became a story, the boy should have been named and recognition accorded to him.
As I read this story on a CNN website Monday, my eyes moistened. And I smiled. I’ve been thinking about it, and the nature of news and the good in human nature, ever since.
News should have impact, yes, and also can be uplifting. Not always, because we have to report on the range of the human condition, which includes crimes of passion or calculation, and taxes, and politics.
Did you think this tale of a fourth grade boy in Florida is “news” in Connecticut? Did you like reading it?