Port Angeles Vision

One of the popular statements many of us have made in this past year is that we are tired of the media reporting so much bad news.  In fact, some have suggested that the media is in part responsible for the downturn in our economy.  Well, I think we can see that probably isn’t true.  The downturn in our economy has many reasons, and exactly what role the traditional media played is more than just a little hard to define.

I’ve heard some talking heads and others in the media espouse some ugly and depressing news of late, and I’ve heard some harsh criticism of those people with the same old argument, “These people ought to quit reporting bad news.  They’re causing our market and economy to slide further down because all they do is publish negative news.”

I’m sympathetic to the argument.  One of the things so many of us have grown up with is negative news.  You know the jokes about TV news.  If you watch the news on TV every night, you may suffer from depression.  On the other hand, put your TV away, and over the following months, you’ll feel like you’re on Prosac.

Here’s my point today.  No one likes negative news.  I don’t.  But if there is negative news that is actually accurate and accurately forecasting the state of our future economy, we should listen and consider that it may be true.  If it is true, the messenger should not be blamed.

Frankly, if I made a list here, and I won’t do that, of all the bad things that have happened in corporate America, on Wall Street, in our financial institutions, in the mortage and real estate markets, that list would be so long, you would never bother reading it in a single day.

The truth is, we are in a serious funk in America.  Like it or not, there is a place for bad news, so long as the bad news is based in reality and delivered with wisdom.  That probably leaves out most of our major news networks, but it doesn’t leave them all out.  There are some very wise folks out there, and to those folks we should listen, even if it is negative news about our future.

Ignoring bad news is a little like sticking one’s head in the sand.  It doesn’t change reality.  Being unrealistically pessimistic is not good either.  I would suggest that we “embrace the pain.”  There’s something good that begins to happen when a person embraces the pain instead of running from it.  It is usually the beginning of healing, and for us it could be the beginning of recovery.