The Good News Man
( NOTE FROM BILL BAILEY; Ruud Hein is the creator of Good News Blog, which features positive news stories, and has gotten a lot of buzz and praise from all over the world. Ruud was kind enough to write the following story, ‘The Good News Man’ about me and my Good News Paper of the 1970’s and my upcoming The Best of Us Book Series. In the first part of the article its refreshing to see the attempts by the major news media to also promote more positive stories. Read and enjoy. I’m inviting all of you to visit Ruud’s wonderful blog at www.goodnewsblog.com.)
The Good News Man
It’s funny how you sometimes don’t really believe in your own ideas. When four years ago I started a “Good News” section on our family website I wanted people to come and read. Who wouldn’t? When you have a site, a blog, or simply put your photos on the web, you want people to come and see.
Now, years later, Good News Blog has become a Newsweek recommended source for positive news stories. The site is talked about in the media, from the USA to Australia.
I can’t claim that as my success. If you’re familiar with my about page that should come as no surprise.
Apart from spiritual reasons I think it’s you. It’s your success. You make your voice heard in a demand for good news. And “they” listen…
CBS recently posted a blog entry titled “Spreading The Good News“. In it they make the case for reporting… good news.
Wyatt Andrews, CBS News, says that such stories are necessary for viewers to get an accurate picture of the world around them. “I think we should be doing this far more frequently simply because these people are part of the American scene — simply from a journalistic point of view, because they represent a piece of the American reality. In some proportion, we should also hold up people who do well, so that they can be copied and emulated. And what the proportion is – 90%-10%; 80%-20% — I don’t know … but some proportion should be finding good.”
Steve Hartman, CBS “Sunday Morning” correspondent, offered a similar perspective, saying that the amount of negative stories on television news offers a “skewed vision of what this country is all about.”
So NBC “Nightly News” started a good news section called “Making a Difference” which highlights positive stories.
"Since we began this series of good news stories about people who are selflessly helping others, we have been utterly overwhelmed by herograms from viewers. In my time at NBC Nightly News I have never, ever, seen anything like it. Most of the e-mails are brief and to the point; they simply thank us for finally — finally — airing some good news. In fact, of the more than 1,000 e-mails we’ve received on this subject alone, there have been only a few sour notes that I have seen, including one that asked, “what, only one piece of good news today?”
“Making a Difference” didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we saw a need, and we saw that need because we heard you."
– John Reiss, executive producer, on The Daily Nightly
CBS News followed up with a CBS “Sunday Morning” Three Good News Stories
Bill Bailey
But long before them, and long before I ever thought about Good News Blog, there was Bill Bailey; the good news man. In 1970 he started publishing the “World’s First Good News Newspaper”. During its 2-year run it had garnered over 30,000 subscribers in 800 cities, 50 states, and 9 foreign countries. He received press coverage in Time Magazine, Associated Press, National Enquirer, and many other international publications.
As Bill shared with me, he was inspired by Norman Cousins ’s statement which now adorns these web pages as well;
“If News is not really news unless it is bad news, it may be difficult to claim we are an informed nation.”
In 1996 Bill published America’s Good News Almanac. He could have done much more but well, life and finances have a habit of getting in the way sometimes. He went through a period of chronic depression, suffered a negative outlook on life and the state of the world, but thanks to his wonderful wife and family recovered completely.
Am I breaking his confidence here? No. Bill likes to share the truth. The good news, which is true, but as he says; “I think all of us go through problems and doubts and fears, and sometimes in our complicated world we doubt our value in it.”
But now he’s back with “The Best of Us“. It’s a whole series of books he’ll be doing, kicking off in 2006-7, with “The Best of Us - 50 Inspiring People Who are Making the World a Better Place”, followed by titles on teachers, medicine, business, politics and government, teens, parenting, and more.
Bill believes caring people can change the world. And he believes positive news deserves its place in order to give us a true balanced view of the world around us. Let me leave you with the story he likes to tell when he talks to high school journalism classes.
In October of 1994 there was a killing in New York city of a 14 year old boy by two teenagers. That story lead the newspapers and TV news for days and days. And yes, it was a tragedy, and it was news.
But, on that very same weekend an event on the cable channel Nickolodeon was taking place that should also have made that same front page and lead story on the news.
That weekend in 1994, Nickolodeon launched its first annual “Big Help” telethon. The idea was to get kids from 6-14 who watch Nickolodeon to call in and pledge some of their time to work in their communities with volunteer groups…a way to teach them the value of volunteerism.
No one at Nickolodeon could foresee the results, for after all, there were no prizes being offered, just an opportunity to pledge some time to help people in their town.
The calls poured in during the 12 hour telethon. At the end, nearly five million kids had pledged over thirty-one MILLION hours of volunteer community service.
Did this story make any headlines? Should it have? Of course it should have. What a tremendous balancing story to place alongside the story of the killing of a 14-year old.
Where did I find this story? It was a one paragraph item under ‘TV Notes’ in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee.
