Every day, I start my day with the news, and every day, I see the same things: death, war, destruction, corruption, alcohol, drugs. The list goes on.  Somewhere in this assault of negative media, news stations should cover the good that happens every day as well.

Sadly, the news is not the only place where I see these ugly things.  These issues rear their ugly heads in every form of media from news broadcasts and magazines to podcasts and books.

According to Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government & the Press at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, negative news coverage has increased from 25% in 1960 to 87% in 2000.

Negative media assaults us from all sides.  We are under a constant barrage that would have us think that the world is made completely of shadows and darkness.

According to a study done at University of Missouri, news stories about disasters, health threats, and political downfalls increased attention and memory in readers while stories about philanthropy, political promises, and improvement projects received minimal recognition and attention.

The media focuses on disasters and their aftermath but rarely focuses on the people who volunteer and rebuild these ravaged cities

People go out and help those in need every day, but the media deems this unimportant.
“If it bleeds, it leads” — the test for what the media deems newsworthy.

There are whole websites dedicated to reporting positive news.  Sites such as Good News Network and Happy News.  The names speak for themselves.

Missionary groups and relief services are still stationed in Haiti helping people every day.  Volunteers trek into Baltimore to work with homeless people who struggle with mental illnesses.

“According to a study conducted by the United Sates Government, in 2010 the U.S. saw the increase in volunteering since 2003.  According to the same study, about a quarter of people who volunteer after natural disasters travel from out-of-state to help.

But instead, news providers pull out the shockingly awful stories, convincing the public that we live in a terrible world. However, the world is not as dark a place as the media makes it out to be.

The real question is, what kind of people are we to only want stories filled with gore and destruction?

Meg Kirchner is a Reporter for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.