Some years ago, an innovative idea was launched by a group of people in the broadcasting and media industry. Their brainchild was to start a network that would only report and feature good news.
Avoiding the negatives of our culture like crime, drug trafficking, murder, political corruption and such like, they focused only on reporting positive, constructive, and good news.
The result of their experiment in delineating and accentuating the positive while omitting the negative was a complete failure.
They quickly discovered that in comparison to those who are bad news enthusiasts, only a hand full of viewers preferred good news.
We are going to consider why people in general prefer bad news more than they do good news in this piece today.
If I was a gambling man (and I am not), I would bet you that even in our locale, if The Dillon Herald would only feature good news in every edition, ultimately its distribution and sales would drastically drop. You see it does not matter whether they are city or country folk, black or white, people (whether they will own up to it or not), crave and prefer to hear or read about bad news over good news. I will devote the remainder of my column today in an endeavor to tell you why.
Bad News Registers Better With Our Nature
Perhaps at the core of why human beings crave and prefer to hear or read about bad news over good news lies in the core or essence of our nature. From a biblical perspective, ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man’s nature or inner essence has been evil and depraved. This truth transcends and involves every race, tribe, or nationality. Each of us was conceived in our mother’s womb with an innate sin nature and predisposition to prefer negative and bad news over good news.
Studies have proven that children from their infancy do not have to learn bad behavioral patterns and practices like selfishness, anger, and even lying.
These things are inbred in every child without any exception and can easily be agitated given the right instigation.
In a nutshell, it is this depravity in our fallen nature that makes bad news more attractive to us than good news.
Regrettably, even after experiencing regeneration or conversion through belief in Christ, we still have to contend with this craving and preference for that which is bad and negative.
Bad News Seems to Have More Drama and Intrigue
I have been a devoted reader of newspapers and magazines, as well as an avid viewer and listening of television and radio news broadcasts over many years.
Like many of you, I was drawn to the daily news, primarily due to the drama and intrigue it presented. The vast majority of the news that had the greatest drama and intrigue was bad news.
Stories like the Watergate Scandal, Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, the O.J. Simpson trial, the beating of Rodney King, as well as the tragic slaying of Travon Martin, Michael Brown, and quite a few others were definitely bad news that contained a lot of drama and intrigue that kept people like me glued to the various news outlets for more.
Presently, the story that is dominating the news is the ongoing investigation of some of the President’s former and current advisers and whether or not they broke the law by having collusion with the Russians.
This affinity for bad news is even being played out in our area. I am safe to say that The Herald’s coverage of local murders, arrest of drug traffickers, and tragic automobile accidents that claimed some lives were read by more people than the good news of the arrival of Wyman-Gordon and the Inland Port to our area.
Again, I repeat the fact that we are more prone to watch, read, and listen to bad news more than we are to good news.
Predisposed by the Media and Entertainment Industry
At the end of the day, perhaps the most compelling influence that preconditions all of us to prefer bad news over good news is the influence of the media and entertainment industry.
Believe it or not, the overwhelming majority of the news we receive from the various network and cable news outlets are more negative than positive and fit into the bad news category. Simply because bad news sells and draws a larger viewing audience.
The ones who make the decisions about what types of stories that are going to be featured have done their math and know full well that bad news draws a greater viewing audience and is therefore more profitable economically. Sad to say, but the root behind the media’s preference for bad news is “the love of money, which is the root of all evil”.
So we are being continually bombarded with bad news that in return is feeding our natural inclination for bad and negative news.
The entertainment industry is also complicit to the dissimulation of negatives through music, movies, and television that feature murder, crime, violence, and other evils. This just increases the susceptibility and preference of bad news.
In light of all that we have considered, I believe that I can assert with certainty that bad news shall continue to reign supreme through the various news outlets and network broadcasts.
Our very nature and the aggression and internal conflict of our species that pits us against one another will continue to feed our innate craving for information and news that is bad.
However, the day is coming when the knowledge of He who came to redeem man over two thousand years ago shall fill the entire Earth and there shall be no more murder, no more crime, no more war, and yes, no more bad news to report on. In that day, only good news shall be proclaimed and enjoyed by all who hear it.
As a follower of the coming King, I am eagerly anticipating and awaiting that glorious day when (in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.), “All God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing with the Negro the Old Negro Spiritual, Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty, We Are Free at Last!”
