Editor,  

Recently I saw my favorite TV news reporter doing a stretch of morning anchor duty. But all the luster of her intelligence wore off as she rambled through the scripted, regurgitated “news” presented the previous evening.  

The TV anchor script is always bad news, in part because it is chained-down by endless reports of senseless criminal events happening in the big city. Actual good news is rarely reported. And by good news I don’t mean graduation days, sports team victories, first responders doing their job, or the fluffy, positive human-interest pieces always thrown in at the end of the national TV news half hour. 

By good news I mean reporting about systemic ways our society can actually crawl out of the endless cycle of bad news we are addicted to today. 

Some news organizations have adopted the approach of promoting acts of kindness as the solution. That is never a bad idea, but it is a long way away from a competent solution to society’s ills. Crime keeps increasing even as random and organized acts of kindness increase.  

Even politicians, church leaders, and CEOs seem unable to lead us out of the swamp. Their plans are either irresponsible, unattainable, or selfish. Maybe the people need to get involved and get the job done.

Kimball Shinkoskey