Good Ideas Make For Boring News

The headlines in the Indianapolis Star at the moment I’m writing this post are about a record number of bodies in the Indianapolis morgue, a shooting on the near east side, and the story of a child predator in Carmel.

I didn’t include the links to these because you would likely click on them, because all that is hard to ignore. Those stories feel like things you need to know more about. It’s “clickbait” to use the modern term. Or if you like older expressions: “if it bleeds, it leads.”

But good news is far less common in the news. We’re likely to put off a feel-good story because it’s not as urgent. And even harder to find than good news are plain old good ideas.

There’s not anything newsworthy about an idea. In most cases, it’s not news, because it’s not new. And even if it is a good idea, people who have heard of it have often already formed an opinion. That makes it hard to have a discussion, because are already starting on different sides and plus this is nothing new anyway.

Borrrrrriiinnng.

This is at the heart of what we must change. If someone mentions an idea, we have to do something other than say “I’m for it” or “that’s a terrible idea.” We have to learn to say, “I do have an opinion, but I’m open to learning more and maybe changing my view.”

Maybe if we started doing more of that, we’d all make the news.

And maybe our politicians would have to try it as well.