BEHIND THE BAD NEWS

No.2 April 15 ,2005

First, thanks to all of you for subscribing to my newsletter. There are only 24 of you so far, but if you like what you’re reading, please tell your friends to visit and subscribe.

Within the next 2 months my web-site will be on all the search engines, as it takes that long for them to catch up with all the new web-sites. So if anyone searches for me on Google for example, they won’t find me for a while. Just tell them to type in www.drycreekpress.com.

The reason for this week’s title, ‘Behind the Bad News’, is important because so many people who think of ‘good news’ often think of it as fluffy, non-important news that is boring, or irrelevant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Behind the bad news stories that dominate the news media are stories of progress, growth, achievement, and people out there solving the problems of our times. These stories deserve to be placed alongside the stories of death, doom and destruction in order to provide a balanced view of the world we live in. That is my mission, and the mission of the many of us who are involved in spreading the positive news.

In my ‘quick links’ section of the web-site you’ll see a link that will take you to a wonderful site called, “The Positive News Network’. Nine years ago a gentleman from Illinois, Dave Boufford, started the Positive News Network for the same reasons I got involved in the good news 35 years ago. He is known as “Mr. Positive” and his newsletter now goes out to people in 140 countries.

I’m happy to say that Dave and I have decided to combine our efforts in spreading the positive news in many new ways. We are working on starting a Positive News radio broadcast and wire service, and that is now being worked on. Stay tuned, it is very exciting! We are also forming a grass roots action group that you all can join, that will consist of writing and calling the news media and complaining about the over-coverage of crime stories, and other negative news at the expense of giving us a balanced coverage of stories ‘behind the bad news’.

This leads me to share with you a very unusual and inspiring story I found the other day on the U.S. Air Force web site.

When it comes to bad news, I don’t know of any that rivals a war. And the war in Iraq, with its daily stories of suicide bombers blowing up civilians and our men and women in uniform makes us all sick at heart.

No matter what your view of the Iraq war, ( mine is that we should never have started it in the first place), now that we are there, we all have to support our men and women who are in harms way and hope to get them all home as soon as we can, and leave behind a free Iraqi nation.

Fortunately, these brave soldiers of ours are working hard every day to bring peace to the region and help the Iraqi people. Unfortunately, we don’t hear about the progress they are making over there.

The following story was written by Master Sgt. Rickey Fitzgerald, 332 Air Expeditionary Wing, Iraq. It is a true example of the good news behind the ‘bad news’.

3/9/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Did you hear the good news in Iraq today? My guess is no.

It is no secret that good news is no news, especially when news sells. So who wants to buy good news when you can get bad news for free? Think about it. Is the media to blame? If so, why? The media sells news, the public buys news.

I’ll make it easy for you. I have good news from Iraq, and it’s free!

My name is Ricky Fitzgerald. I’m a master sergeant in the Air Force, and I work as a Combat Camera videographer, stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. I have a story to tell, but be warned; it may shock you -- it’s all good news.

Let me first lay down a little disclaimer and maybe some bias. I love my country, I love our military, and I love the people who serve in it. I have never met finer friends than those I have served with during the past 18 years.

I arrived here in Iraq in early January, just two months ago. Like most members of the military arriving here, I was a little scared, a little disoriented and a little unsure about what was going to happen next and who it was going to happen to. Why wouldn’t I be? I watch the same news you do. I have seen things I would rather not see -- sad things, sad people and sad situations that seem to have no end in sight.

My purpose here is not to hide or downplay the obvious: people are dying here every day. Out of respect for our fallen brothers and sisters who selflessly laid down their lives for something they believed in, I think the public, especially the families of those who have fallen in this foreign land, deserve to know the truth about what is really going on 90 percent of our time over here. I’m writing this to tell you exactly what I have seen, not what I have watched or read on the news, and not what I have heard in daily briefings.

Are you the one who donated one of the 60 soccer balls we handed out this week? Last week those same kids were kicking a can in the street.

Maybe you contributed one of the 1,160 pairs of shoes that I watched Iraqi children slip into last week. Watching all those children try on shoes for the very first time in their life is beyond any Christmas present opening you could ever witness.

Or was it you who filled all of those boxes up with school supplies, toys, blankets and stuffed animals for the children? I couldn’t believe it when I walked into the school classrooms -- no electricity, no plumbing, not one poster or sign on any wall, not even a pencil or piece of paper. There was just one middle-aged Iraqi teacher trying to entertain the minds of about 30 little kids in a world where doing something fun involved rocks and sticks.

Are you the American kid who spent all day in class writing thank you letters to American servicemembers you have never even met? Take it from me, your pictures are proudly displayed in almost every American’s office, tent and armored vehicle in Iraq.

Are you the parent, wife, husband, brother, sister or neighbor of the American servicemember who I saw playing with Iraqi children today? Those kids looked up to him like he was the best thing that has ever happened in their lives. I believe he was.

Maybe you know the servicemember who stepped out of his armored vehicle only to be swarmed by Iraqis, both young and old, who wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and walk proudly down the neighborhood street with him. And walk they did; you should have seen it!

I am here to tell all of you the truth. Your toys, your blankets, your drawings and your letters are here in Iraq, and every day you are putting smiles on faces and hope in every Iraqi child’s future.

Will shoes and toys solve the world’s problems? Certainly not, but if you could see what I have seen in the eyes of an Iraqi child, you would know there is hope. And if you could see the strength and determination of the American servicemember here in Iraq, you would know your prayers are working.

News comes in many forms, and a camera’s lens captures it all -- good and bad. But today, I give you the good. God bless you all.

That’s the newsletter for this week..and I’d like to share this quote with you. It belongs to the late Norman Cousins, Editor of the Saturday Review, and a mentor to me for many years.

“If news is not really news unless it is bad news, it may be difficult to claim we are an informed nations” – Norman Cousins

See you next week!