So, do you want the bad news, or the good?
C.E. Grundler
I have to confess, I have a love/hate relationship with the news. On one hand, from a writer’s perspective, you couldn’t ask for a better source of inspirational material. Murder, mayhem, the general decline of civilization and the lowest examples of human nature, they all make for sensational headlines. There’s everything you could ever imagine when it comes to the unimaginable, and then some. A quick scan of the day’s offerings often leaves me shaking my head in sadness and disbelief. These stories aren’t fiction – they’re actual people, actual lives and deaths. They’re a sad side of the world we live in these days, and it seems as though things are progressively taking a turn for the worse. Perhaps, or maybe the world had always been this way, but thanks to the wonders of the interwebs we are now that much more aware.
By the nature of the news, the most horrific headlines often get top billing. What’s the old saying? “If it bleeds, it leads.” And that bleeding comes in a range of topics, from humanity to politics, finance to the environment, not to mention the daily crop of celebrity train wrecks. It’s enough to bring even the most optimistic soul down. But I’ve found an antidote – though it takes some work. Like diamonds hidden within tons of coal, there are good bits of news to be found, though they usually get buried beneath the bad. The trick is to scroll down the page, past the appalling, the gruesome and tragic. Often, I find the most hope for the world as a whole hidden in the corners of the science news. There’s no question our climate’s a mess, our oceans are awash in plastic, and our energy hungry population needs better sources of power. But I suspect these recent stories spotlighting some groundbreaking solutions weren’t sensational enough for the mainstream media. After all, with mass shootings, sports stars being traded and Kardashians gaining or losing weight, who really cares if some researchers have discovered a way to cheaply and safely trap CO2 emissions, based upon studies of sea urchins. Or how some scientists messing with graphite and scotch tape may have come up with a safe, non-toxic, inexpensive and exceptionally efficient new super-capacitor, which could revolutionize powering everything from cellphones to cars. Or the 19 year old who developed an award-winning system that could be the key to removing 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World’s Oceans.
In the end, the world’s news can be overwhelming. But if you sift down and read a little further, you can still find some good news… you just have to look beyond the bad.
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