POSITIVE SENSATIONALISM!

Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘sensationalism’ as: the use of subject matter or technique designed to startle, shock, etc.

We all know the news media are experts in the use of sensationalism in reporting the news, but I think its time for some POSITIVE SENSATIONALISM as a counter-balance.

That’s what Good News stories usually lack…not because they are not sensational in their own right, but because they generally don’t ‘shock or startle’ us in the same way that death, destruction, and doom.

Well, I believe that positive news should startle us..and should shock us, in a positive way! I coined the word “Positive Sensationalism’ years ago as a reminder to myself that we are so conditioned to the sensational, that if good news wasn’t given ‘hot’ headlines, and the best writing, and interviews, etc, it would not be noticed.

And, as you can see, the positive stories that do make it in the tv broadcasts or daily newspapers are generally buried deep inside, or relegated to a quick 20-30 seconds, and almost always not given the same expertise in writing the headlines and story as the ‘hard news’.

As my dear friend, the late Norman Cousins so eloquently stated…”If news is not really news unless it is bad news, it may be difficult to claim we are an informed nation.”

Speaking of the above..I have some stories to share with you since my last newsletter. These will be included and expanded upon in my “Looking at the Bright Side” book which I’m happy to say is on target for a publication date this fall or possibly sooner. I’m going to give you the condensed version today. All of you who are subscribers will have the opportunity to purchase the first books, in a special autographed and personally inscribed edition at a reduced price. And now..here’s some good news..as promised!

LOOKING AT THE BRIGHTSIDE IS GOOD MEDICINE

Garret Condon of the Hartford Courant did a story last month about Margaret Chesney. She is the deputy director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

According to Psychologist Chesney, “there are pathways by which positive emotions influence health and well-being.” Most of the mind-body research to date, she said, has focused on the impact of negative emotional states – anger and depression for example – on bodily health.

“We don’t have nearly enough research on the bodily effects of positive states, because we haven’t focused on it,” she said.

When Chesney was a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and during her tenure there conducted research on the power of positive thinking among 200 HIV/AIDS patients. Teaching them positive coping strategies, which involved learning how to separate the stressful situations they could change from those they could not, resulted in this group of patients adopting new positive perspectives and had less stress and much higher morale than those in a control group who were not given these strategies.

She urged researchers to look at how a positive state of mind – or “positive affect” in the parlance of psychologists – influences wellness.

Chesney also said that an immense amount of research in this field remains to be done, and noted that researchers should not ignore the socioeconomic conditions that help produce HAPPINESS. She said researchers could continue to focus on sickness only, which she called “the weeds in the garden” or, she said, “We can plant a few flowers, understand how they take root and help them grow.”

POSITIVE STATISTICS

I love statistics. As everyone knows, they can too often be twisted to say the opposite of what they really mean, or to point out why the government needs to raise our taxes.

But positive statistics deserve more recognition than they get. Here are a few from one of the chapters of my forthcoming book, “Looking at the Brightside”.

In the 70’s and 80’s, according to Robert Samuelson of Newsweek Magazine, there were tons of statistical data to support the theory that the Germans and the Japanese would inevitably surpass America because they had better managers, better workers, and better schools.

Statistically, they also outsaved and outinvested us.

So what happened? It’s 2004 and American’s per capita incomes averaged $38,324. The figures for Germany and Japan were $26,937 and $29,193.

LESS VIOLENT CRIME TODAY?

Violent Crime has consistently gone down down down over the last 20 years.

However…there are as much as 4 times as many crime stories reported in the newspapers and television as there were 20 years ago!

Now, the media doesn’t increase crime, but they multiply its effect. Without an increase in violence happening at all, our psychic exposure to the 24-7 over-coverage of crime leads us to feel fearful and to perceive ourselves less safe..despite the fact..STATISTICALLY we are safer than we have ever been. Hard to believe isn’t it? Another reason the news media should take responsibility for this reliance on crime stories for the sake of profits and report more about the progress, growth, and accomplishments taking place all over the world. That, my friends is ‘objective’ reporting.
AND NOW..SOME PERSONAL GOOD NEWS…

My next newsletter will have some more positive stories you may not have had the pleasure to know about, and I appreciate all of you who have subscribed and visited my Dry Creek Press website. I’ve added my biography, and made a few other changes, and more are underway, so please take a look, and tell your friends who want good news to visit and subscribe, its appreciated!(www.drycreekpress.com).

This year has been especially rewarding on a personal level for my wife and I. In February, our son Bill Bailey and his wife Brandi became the proud parents of twins! Billy and Nicole are now almost 4 months old and the cutest little things you could imagine! (this is a grandpa talking, but it’s the truth!)

So, we have made a few trips up to Salem, Oregon from our northern California home to make sure we got to know them..its been wonderful. Babies continually remind us of the beauty of life, the innocence, the joy, and the reason we all rejoice at each new birth. I’m honored to be a father of five, and grandpa of 11.

On top of that wonderful news, our oldest grandson and his wife had their first baby in May, a boy, Mason, and Landon, graduated from UCLA Law School two weeks later. So now we are great-grandparents!

Before you start to think I’m going to nod off before finishing this newsletter and take my geritol, I can tell you that I feel better a few days from turning 66 than I did at 35! And, a recent experience in Oregon made me feel even better.

My son Bill, and his wife Brandi introduced my wife Kathy and I to a good friend of theirs in Salem. He is a very colorful fellow, has his own construction company,with one of the most positive outlooks I’ve ever seen. Sam Ayhan is his name. Sam is one of 13 children from a Russian family who immigrated to Oregon 40 years ago from Turkey.

At 35, Sam’s marriage day was set for April 15th. We were invited, and went with our son and daughter in law.

There were hundreds of people there, at the family homestead, still watched over by Papa Ayhan and Mama Ayhan, and we were greeted warmly by Sam’s sisters and brothers. Food of all kind was served, homemade wines of marionberry, raisin and other delicious varieties too numerous to remember were poured into our seemingly bottomless cups.

As I looked around at this family and their friends, gathered this day to celebrate the union of a man and his wife, I thought of the musical, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and one of the songs, ‘TRADITION’.

You see, this was not a wedding and reception of the type you normally see. This was a traditional Russian/Greek Orthodox ceremony.

It was fascinating to see the family in traditional clothes, the women in pink hand made pretty dresses, the men in what we would call ‘tunics’ , also hand made, although they have a word for it in Russian I do not remember.

But the traditions they honored that day, passed on through the centuries, were heartfelt and incredibly moving to all of us.

The day we spent with this wonderful family, celebrating the marriage of Sam to Irina, was very special. Sam and his family are bonded to my family now, and I’m proud to call them our friends. I share this with you because it is so wonderful to be reminded that tradition matters, and that people who reach out to others the way the Ayhan’s reached out to us, are the real hope for a world where all can live in peace.

Thanks for your support of the good news. Please send me stories of your own, or those you see, I welcome them. Next newsletter..special stories you won’t believe!

Bill Bailey
The Good News Newsman
bill@drycreekpress.com
www.drycreekpress.com