Ever get tired of hearing bad news all the time? I know I do. Every time I open a mainstream media outlet on TV or on the internet, it looks as if the whole world is crumbling down. But in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s important in 2019 to recognize that positive and negative news don’t get proportionate coverage. And for very simple reasons.
It’s the same underlying reason that my Taxi driver the other day felt like telling me how “the end is near” and “the day of reckoning is upon us.” He tried appealing to my natural human sensitivity to negative emotion. Doom and gloom sells better than cheer and laughter. Which is pretty sad but true nonetheless because people tend to be very cynical about positive news. I guess it’s really just natural to focus our eyes on what still needs a fix instead of looking back to what we’ve already achieved. But there’s more to it than that.
Another factor that’s worth mentioning is that traditional news sources on TV (CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc.) are rapidly losing popularity in the wake of YouTube’s extraordinary success. Simply put, YouTube is a superior platform for obvious reasons. People can watch whatever they want, whenever they want to. And that’s way more convenient for just about everyone, especially busy working people. But of course the old guard refuses to just roll over and surrender. Instead they’re doing what they know works best— telling horror stories. Now more than ever. Because nothing captivates an audience like a story of impending doom.
That’s why I think it’s increasingly such a valuable skill in the 21st century to be able to distinguish between reality and its presentation.
If you seriously like to be updated on all the terrible things that politicians say about each other, or all the individual acts of injustice that occur on a daily basis, that’s fair enough. Some people actually enjoy keeping up with the drama. But otherwise, it might be personally helpful to soak up information more selectively by asking yourself “is this reporting facts or speculation?” and “who benefits from purposefully exaggerating it?” Guaranteed, you’ll find plenty of stuff that’s labeled “BREAKING NEWS” which genuinely isn’t worth your time and emotional energy.
So anyway, here’s some positive news that you’ve probably never heard before because no one’s incentivized to cover it:
1. The global poverty rate was cut in half between the years 1990 and 2010 from 43% to 21%. (The Economist)
2. The global under-five mortality rate fell by more than half between 1990 and 2017 from 9.3% to 3.9%. (UNICEF)
3. The violent crime rate in America fell by 74% from 1990 to 2017! (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
I honestly didn’t believe these stats when I first read them but we’re high key killing the game! Isn’t that stuff worth being proud of?
By the way, the 3rd one is super interesting because it actually directly contradicts public perception of crime rates. On a national scale, most people surveyed consistently said crime had gone up compared to the previous year. According to PEW Research, this is a direct result of increased reporting & media coverage of violent crime. So that just goes to show how easily we can be deceived by biased exposure to information.
My main point is very simple. By all means, let’s continue striving for improvement towards a more fair and healthy society. But don’t let media outlets that benefit from fear-mongering and alarmist coverage dictate your perception of reality. I’m not trying to say “things are great so shut up” but just hoping everyone can put things into perspective a little bit at the end of a long day.
Filip, again.
Sources:
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/06/02/how-did-the-global-poverty-rate-halve-in-20-years
https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/03/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/
filipagain 
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