“CBS Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley often closes his half-hour newscast with a positive, pick-me-up story. Many times it’s reported by Steve Hartman in his feature called “On the Road.”
The story is usually a heartwarmer, perhaps a reunion of long-lost family members, a youngster overcoming some dreaded disease by sheer determination or someone simply going the extra mile for someone else. The viewer can’t help but smile – and occasionally wipe a tear away.
It got us to thinking. What if the proportion of positive stories and negative stories were inverse? What if the last five minutes of the newscast were devoted to the horrific crime of the day, whether nationally or internationally, and the first 20 to 25 minutes were stories of human triumph and kindness, showing people at their very best?
By now, you may be snickering sarcastically or rolling your eyes at our foolishness. And that’s just fine.
Imagine, however, if such a nightly news program really existed. The detractors would, of course, be scornful of such a Pollyanna treatment of real life. Some would suggest a program title like “Sugarcoating at Six” or “The Namby-Pamby News.” The “Real-Men-Don’t-Eat-Quiche” crowd would roar “Tell it like it is!” and demand the usual hardcore, blood-and-guts coverage: Motorcycle gang members killing one another; a serial-rape suspect smiling at the victim’s family; college kids losing their sanity at a frat party; bullies beating up kids or the driver on the bus; road rage turning into murder; stray bullets killing a little girl while she is sleeping in her bed.