Newsworthy

I've noticed that lately most of my blogging has been of the weekend update kind of thing and that I haven't had much to say about any of the worldly issues that are going on around us. I guess it is easy to get wrapped up in our own little world and leave the rest of the world commentary to the expert commentators or bloggers such as Brian Williams, Russ Mitchell and Bilbo.

These guys are unafraid to bring out the controversial topics and make you put your thinking caps on. For reporting the news, exposing fraud and waste or just keeping us informed, these kinds of folks are at the top of their game. Even Mike, with just a short entry each day, brings us into one of the Billions of Versions of Normal.

Several local readers have made verbal comments on the video link from my last post--Touching Them All. While this is a great story and a great act of kindness and character, a part of me has to ask the question--Why is this newsworthy? Are such acts so rare that we find it amazing that two young women "do the right thing at the right time?" Have character and integrity become such a rare commodities in our society that we have to take note and encourage others by making news stories about simple acts of kindness?

Don't get me wrong. It's a great story and I'm glad that ESPN put out this video about it. But I truly believe that many millions of people are just doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Maybe the media needs to do more to emphasize the good things that happen rather than sensationalizing all of the crime, violence and oppression in the world. What would happen if a national news show had 30 minutes of good news to report one evening? Wouldn't it be great to be able to digest your evening meal feeling good about the world instead of listening to how bad the economy is, how violent our neighborhoods are or how corrupt our government is?

Human interest stories are...interesting. I think that we should encourage the news media to do more of them. Kudos to ESPN for the coverage on these young women. Perhaps, in the future, you'll find more stories like that on this blog.

Always willing to share the "Good News,"

John

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
from the blog Wise Men Say