Kaua‘i’s most wanted, fires and car accidents never fail to appear among the top 10 most-read articles on The Garden Island website.
What bothers me is when people accuse the media of spreading negative news, when it is clearly what individuals are most interested in hearing about.
If communities wanted to learn about charitable causes and random acts of kindness toward one another, then I assure you, media moguls would catch on and alter their content.
But this is not yet the case.
So, what exactly is it about a murder or another person’s tragedy that fascinates us? What is it about government conspiracies and highlighting human flaws that intrigues us?
After being pegged a “flighty fluffmeister” this week, I’ve come to embrace the back-handed compliment.
I would rather spend my life on this planet in a positive light, even if it is considered fluffy to some. Because although corruption might abound and faulty systems need to crumble, there is so much more to life than spending my time dwelling on it. I’d rather try to devote my days actively pursing the good in things — though it might be really, and I mean, really, hard to find sometimes.
Blissfully ignoring items which need to be addressed is not my stance. But c’mon, there is so much more to life than spending it in disgruntled gloom and reaching for the remote control, keyboard or paper just to convince yourself of how horrible you’ve imagined things to be.
Aren’t we all just human beings with the same goal of achieving happiness in our lives — even those who are at the forefront of corruption? Why must we tear one another down or highlight systematic flaws? What good does that do, really?
Sure, we need to recognize the bad before we get to the good. But does that require dwelling on it rather than working together to make it better?
Actions speak louder than words. If we begin to look for the good, maybe we’ll start to see it in everyone and everything. And miracle of all miracles, maybe the media will take heed.
It’s not fair to keep biting the hand that feeds us exactly what we continue to look for.
• Coco Zickos is the business and environmental writer. Her column “The Good News” appears once a month.
