There's a saying in news media that "If it bleeds, it leads."
While lots of people pay lip service to wanting more feel-good stories in news coverage, good news doesn't pay the bills.
Bad news is more profitable because more people respond to it, read it and watch it.
An eye on profits means mainstream media can be very depressing. But the good news is out there if we just look for it.
Reddit user Orikrin1998 asked:
"What is something GOOD going on in the world that a lot of people aren’t aware of?"
Miracle of Birth
"An Eastern Black Rhino was just born, a complete surprise to the rangers who protect the 1,000 remaining in the wild."
"They are Critically Endangered, the rarest of the subspecies, and this is a monumental occasion."
~ HarmonicasAndHisses
Warm Thoughts
"There are about 10 to 12 million people in the United States who quilt."
"Most of them belong to quilt guilds that donate to homeless shelters, veteran shelters, or other types of places where people need blankets. My quilt guild donated over 800 this year, and we only have 80 people in our guild."
~ Over-Marionberry-686
Nice Beaver
"They're successfully rewilding beavers in the United Kingdom."
~ pecuchet
"Beaver pelts from North America were such a valuable trade commodity during colonial times because they were hunted to near extinction in Europe."
~ wit_T_user_name
"I LOVE BEAVERS. A family moved into the river in the park by my house and I lost my mind. I would go down and watch them—and so did a lot of people."
"Beavers are one of those animals everyone knows about but few have seen in real life. Just like skunks. Beavers are AWESOME."
~ tortibass
Medical Advances
"I know this is older news, but maybe people aren't aware of it."
"Researchers/scientists have been working with a bacteria to fight cancers. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin has been used with some success to fight bladder cancer."
~ Big_Jerm21
Whale Of A Tale
"Humpback whales are no longer endangered."
~ Stripeagremlin
Comprehensive Sex Education Works
"Teen pregnancy rates in the United States hit a historic low in 2022."
"Not pandemic related at all. From 1991 to 2020, teen pregnancies decreased 75%."
~ MassConsumer1984
Group Efforts
"This World Health Organization (WHO) graphic: Yearly Cases of Guinea Worm in Ethiopia."
cdn.who.int.
"I look this up when I'm having a bad day or humanity starts to seem awful to me. We can be, but we also did this."
"We reduced cases of a horrifying, agonizingly painful parasitic infection that destroys lives and livelihoods from over 1,000 cases a year to 7—and that's just in Ethiopia."
"A lot of hard-working people—including President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalynn Carter—did some amazingly good work."
~ Terpsichorean_Wombat
Mother Earth
"The ozone layer is thickening!"
~ Mysterious-Estate470
"The ozone is easily our best example of how we CAN effectively work to repair environmental damages."
~ Robofetus-5000
Tree-Huggers
"The global movement to plant trees is quietly making strides, contributing to a positive impact on the environment and climate."
"India set a world record by planting over 66 million trees in a single day."
~ Next_levelzombie
Medical Advances, Pt. 2
"As a type 1 diabetic diagnosed 28 years ago, I remember when a simple thing like checking my blood sugar level took a couple minutes to do."
"Now, with continuous glucose monitors, they automatically check every 5 minutes and give warnings if you're trending in a bad way."
"Instead of getting 4 or 5 snapshots of where your blood sugar is through the day, you get a graph that shows the last 24 hours."
~ rpjut5ha
CRISPR
"Experts are being extremely reserved about the potential of CRISPR for medical applications, probably rightfully so while we see how this plays out, but..."
"This could be the biggest medical breakthrough ever."
"Penicillin wouldn't even be close."
~ Desperate_Ordinary43
"Amen! It’s one of the most promising option for treating autoimmune disorders like Lupus!"
~ DangerousMusic14
Moratoriums Showing Results
"Southern Ocean right whales populations are growing at seven percent a year."
"Bowhead whale populations have tripled and have almost recovered to pre-exploitation levels."
"Humpback populations in Australia have recovered and are higher than pre-exploitation."
Others, which haven’t recovered, like the Atlantic right whale, have stopped their steep decline and hopefully can start the process of population recovery."
"Stopping the practice of whaling is…finally…having a positive effect."
~ protogens
Recovery
"I work as a mental health therapist."
"There is certainly a mental health crisis, AND there are also a lot of people who are recovering. Most of the people who I see end up recovering and graduating from therapy within a year."
"We talk a lot about how bad mental health is. We don't talk a lot about recovery in mental health."
~ RapGameCarlRogers
A Helping Hand
"My local animal shelter has a food bank for owners who can't afford food for their pets. And I'm sure it's not the only shelter that does it."
"They run it solely off of donations from the community. They accept any kind of food, wet, dry, refrigerated, etc..."
~ littlebrat97
"Chewy refunds you for recently purchased pet food when your pet dies and suggests you donate the food to a shelter/animal food bank."
~ OstentatiousSock
Leveling The Field
"The state of Illinois has been working to eliminate food deserts, and prevent the loss of independent grocers in small communities."
One example is in the southernmost town, Cairo, Illinois. They opened a grocery store in June. It's a co-op style store, so it's community owned and operated. This after 7 years without access to fresh food."
"It's become a life changing service to some members of this community already. While it's been having some struggles, there has been a great deal of support from the community and from surrounding communities, which has me convinced it will pull through the struggles."
"If this succeeds long term, it will stand as a model for other communities to utilize in eliminating food access issues."
~ imbecillic_genius
Sometimes good news is hard to come by.
But if we look around, we can find it.
